Astronomers are expecting an oncoming “deluge of findings” after the initial significant release of data from a European space telescope created to observe the enigmatic dark matter and dark energy constituting the vast majority of the universe. The European Space Agency’s Euclid mission has obtained images of 26 million galaxies, covering 10 billion years of cosmic history and granting scientists unmatched insight into the forms that govern the cosmos and its galaxies. The preliminary set of survey data facilitated the compilation of an in-depth catalog of 380,000 galaxies, showing the rich diversity of galactic forms, with some caught in mergers with their neighbors. Additional images depict how massive galaxies enveloped by dark matter distort space and magnify galaxies located at a distance, providing key evidence for understanding dark matter. Adam Amara, the UK Space Agency’s chief scientist who helped propose the mission 20 years ago, expressed satisfaction with the observations, anticipating a deluge of groundbreaking discoveries. Einstein’s prediction that powerful gravitational fields would warp space-time has been confirmed by Euclid’s observations of over 500 gravitational lensing events during a single week. Such events indicate the presence of dark matter around galaxies. Euclid is set to capture over 1.5 billion galaxies over six years, assisting in unraveling the composition and behavior of dark matter and energy, potentially revealing new cosmic phenomena.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/19/scientists-hail-avalanche-discoveries-euclid-space-telescope