The European Space Agency (ESA) will release five new images from the Euclid space telescope on Thursday (May 23). And, well, if the previous set of pictures is anything to go by — space fans should be in for an absolute treat. "Five new portraits of our cosmos were captured during Euclid's early observations phase, each revealing amazing new science," ESA officials said in a statement .
"Euclid's ability to unravel the secrets of the cosmos is something you will not want to miss." The new images will be revealed at 05:00 EDT (12:00 CEST) and will be accompanied by an incredible 10 science papers. You can watch the data release live on the ESA's YouTube channel .
Related: Euclid 'dark universe' telescope gets de-iced from a million miles away As an appetizer for the occasion, perhaps we can remind ourselves of the incredible cosmic images this mission has delivered thus far. Having launched on July 1, 2023 from Cape Canaveral in Florida atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Euclid is a wide-angle space telescope carrying a 600-megapixel camera that observes the cosmos in visible light, a near-infrared spectrometer and a photometer that is used to determine the redshift of galaxies . Knowing about redshift allows scientists to figure out how fast distant galaxies are moving away from our planet.
Euclid's primary mission is to investigate the universe's two most mysterious elements: dark energy and dark matter . These phenomena collectively make up what's often called the "dark univ.
