{"id":526651,"date":"2026-06-30T23:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T23:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/526651\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T23:31:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T23:31:15","slug":"scan-more-than-60-million-stars-in-the-most-detailed-photo-of-the-milky-way-ever-taken-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/526651\/","title":{"rendered":"Scan More than 60 Million Stars in the Most Detailed Photo of the Milky Way Ever Taken \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

In March 2025, the Euclid mission led by the The European Space Agency<\/a> (ESA) enabled scientists to capture the highest resolution image<\/a> ever taken of the dense, glowing center of the Milky Way galaxy. An enormous swarm of stars forms a bulge at the heart of the spiral, and researchers continue to search amid these billions of gaseous orbs for exoplanets, or any planet that\u2019s located outside of our solar system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe galactic bulge\u2014the central region of our galaxy\u2014is a vast, tightly packed structure filled mainly with old, cooler stars, giving it its characteristic yellow colour,\u201d ESA says. The photograph, which is taken with visible light, allows scientists to pinpoint exoplanets and measure their mass by monitoring tiny changes in starlight over time in a process called microlensing.<\/p>\n

ESA\u2019s Euclid image captures more than 60 million stars, plus other phenomena such as nebulae, bright star clusters, and molecular clouds that appear like amorphous, dark splotches in front of the brighter areas. Incidentally, to the human eye, they serve as a visual guide or cue to the incredible depth of field the image has actually captured.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor comparison, Euclid\u2019s sharpness and sensitivity in visible light is similar to the\u00a0NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0wide field camera,\u201d ESA says. \u201cBut each pointing that Euclid captures in a few hours spans an area 270 times larger than Hubble\u2019s field of view. To observe the same Euclid mosaic, the\u00a0Keck Observatory\u00a0would need around 2,000 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zoom in on the Galactic Bulge Survey image on ESASky<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>A molecular cloud in front of a field of stars<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>A nebula in the Milky Way\u2019s galactic bulge<\/p>\n

\"a<\/a>A star cluster<\/p>\n

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