Spiral galaxy IC 342, Euclid image

Euclid telescope image of spiral galaxy IC 342, one of the first five images released from Euclid on the 11th of November 2023. IC 342 is located around 11 million light years from Earth, and in some ways resembles the Milky Way. This makes it a useful object for the study of our own galaxy. It is known as the Hidden Galaxy owing to its position behind dust, gas and stars, but Euclid's near-infrared spectrometer and photometer (NISP) is able to capture a clear image through these obstructions. The value of Euclid's telescope is that it can capture images such as these in just one shot. This allows scientists to obtain detailed images of large portions of space faster than other space telescopes previously allowed. This quality will allow Euclid to create the largest 3D map of the universe to date as part of its mission to investigate how dark matter and dark energy have shaped the universe. By observing billions of galaxies up to ten billion light years away, Euclid will provide a valuable insight into the way that galaxies expand and move. From this, it will be possible for the properties of dark matter and dark energy to be inferred. This image was obtained by combining data from Euclid's visible instrument (VIS) and NISP., by EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY