On its mission to reveal the secrets of the “dark universe,” the Euclid space telescope has released its most detailed image yet. The wide-angle telescope built and operated by the European Space Agency (ESA) has been investigating the cosmos since it launched into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on July 1,

Euclid launched from Florida's Cape Canaveral on July 1, 2023, and sent back its first test photos just one month later. The telescope is equipped with

The 208-gigapixel image showcases an area of the southern sky about 500 times the area of the full Moon, as seen between March 25, 2024 and April 8, 2024. The image mosaic is just 1% of the wide survey Euclid will ultimately capture,

The extremely large mosaic, composed of 208 gigapixels, contains 260 observations made between March 25 and April 8 2024.

What makes the map even more impressive is, despite how much it reveals, there is still so more to capture over the six year project. This image is just 1% of what they hope to produce. The final image,

Dubbed the "dark universe telescope," Euclid is the ESA's attempt to map what's otherwise known as the invisible part of the universe—that is, roughly 95% of it. With a majority