The Euclid space telescope, which launched in July, has a very important task ahead of it: produce the largest 3D map of the universe to help solve two of astronomy's grandest mysteries: What is dark energy? What is dark matter?
Regular matter, like your body, planets, and stars, only makes up about 5% of the matter in our universe, per NASA. The other 95% is made of dark matter and dark energy.
But scientists don't know what either of these mysterious cosmic entities really are because astronomers can't see them. Astronomers can only observe the effect dark matter and dark energy have on regular matter.
That's where the European Space Agency's Euclid telescope comes in. By taking high-resolution photos, the space telescope will help scientists study both the shapes and motions of billions of galaxies across the universe to better understand the effects of dark matter and dark energy, ESA said in a statement.
On Tuesday, ESA released the first of those high-res photos. "This is an iconic moment," ESA's Director of Science, Carole Mundell, said during an ESA-hosted livestream announcing the photos.