The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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This image displays an area of the mosaic released by ESA’s Euclid space telescope on 15 October 2024. The area is zoomed in three times compared to the large mosaic. This patch of the Southern Sky shows numerous stars in our own Milky Way, and many galaxies beyond. Thanks to its visible and infrared cameras, Euclid captures the stars in their various colours: red stars are colder, and white/blue stars are hotter. On the right of the image, galaxy cluster Abell 3381 is visible as a string of galaxies.
Equatorial sky coordinates RA/DEC: 06:12:50.65 / -35:12:33.44
Galactic sky coordinates GLON/GLAT: 242.16, -22.63
Area: 17 sq. deg.
[Image description: An ethereal patch of a dark starry sky with millions of tiny dots of light scattered across the image evenly. Mystical swathes of light blue clouds are seeping in from the edges of the picture. Most light sources appear as little points scattered across the dark background, with just a few of them standing out brighter than the rest. A bright, golden yellow star in the upper right quarter of the image draws particular attention. The wispy clouds framing the outskirts of the picture seem to be moving into the image centre and dampen the light of the stars behind. The largest patch of these is visible in the lower left of the picture. In the centre of the upper half of the picture there is a black tilted rectangle devoid of any colour which seems as if a part of the image had been wiped with an eraser.]