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Euclid telescope captures 60 million‑star mosaic of the Milky Way center

scienceJun 24, 2026361,386

ESA's Euclid space telescope released a visible-light mosaic of the Milky Way's crowded center that shows about 60 million stars. Euclid assembled the image from 26 hours of deep-space observations, producing the largest, most detailed close-up yet of the Galactic bulge. The mosaic resolves dense star clusters, nebulosity, and hundreds of thousands of precise stellar positions usable for photometry and astrometry. Those measurements will help find and confirm exoplanets, map the Galaxy's structure, and provide a high-resolution dataset that astronomers can use for decades.

A dense field of tiny stars fills this square image taken by the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope. The lower and central areas are dominated by bright yellow and gold colours, forming a textured background similar to fine glitter or sand. Dark brown and black patches cut irregularly through the yellow regions, like ink stains or clouds of smoke. Toward the upper left, the colours shift to purple and reddish tones, blending gently into the surrounding star field. Small blue points of light are scattered across the image.
@science.esa.int532
Moon 71.1% Waxing Gibbous Taken 06/23/2026 - Dwarf 3
@ceas10.bsky.social183
A dense field of tiny, closely packed points of light fills the image. Most of the background is bright yellow and gold. A broad, irregular dark band runs diagonally across the centre, forming connected black and dark-brown patches. Brighter clusters of pale yellow and white points appear above and below this dark band, with a few slightly bluish points scattered throughout. Credit: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, CFHT, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre and E. Bertin (CEA Paris-Saclay)
@nasaupdates.bsky.social119
A dense field of tiny stars fills this square image taken by the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope. The lower and central areas are dominated by bright yellow and gold colours, forming a textured background similar to fine glitter or sand. Dark brown and black patches cut irregularly through the yellow regions, like ink stains or clouds of smoke. Toward the upper left, the colours shift to purple and reddish tones, blending gently into the surrounding star field. Small blue points of light are scattered across the image.
@astrojaz.bsky.social111
A remarkably dense starfield with deep purple colours at upper left that grade towards more yellowish colours at lower right. There are some dark, irregular spots especially in the lower half of the image.
@theplanetaryguy.com100
From ESA: A dense field of tiny stars fills this square image taken by the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope. The lower and central areas are dominated by bright yellow and gold colours, forming a textured background similar to fine glitter or sand. Dark brown and black patches cut irregularly through the yellow regions, like ink stains or clouds of smoke. Toward the upper left, the colours shift to purple and reddish tones, blending gently into the surrounding star field. Small blue points of light are scattered across the image.
@astroroyalscot.bsky.social69
Andromeda Galaxie M31. 30sec. 281 photos. Lightroom finish. 📸 Andreas Jeger
@pomaranc.bsky.social38
🌌 The Euclid space telescope has captured the largest and most detailed photo ever taken of our galaxy's crowded heart, a dazzling image packed with 60 million
@en.afp.com26
The colorful clouds of stars and dust of the Milky Way's core rise above the horizon on a snowy hillside before dawn. Photo: Bill Dunford
@ridingrobots.bsky.social26
The Veil Nebula is a massive, expanding cloud of ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus. Located about 2,100 light-years away, it is the remnant of a star roughly 20 times more massive than our Sun that exploded as a supernova 8,000 to 10,000 years ago.The entire complex—also known as the Cygnus Loop—spans about 110 light-years across (roughly 3 degrees of the sky). Because of its vast size, observers and astrophotographers typically target specific, intricately woven sections of the nebula.
@starcatcherjohn.bsky.social23
Io is a piece of work!
@bluevoter24.bsky.social13
Artist's concept of GJ 504 b, the "Pink Planet." Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/S. Wiessinger. Public domain.
@totallypaula.bsky.social10
Earth in Celestia with 1.7.0 atmosphere parameters. This atmosphere code was implemented long before sRGB rendering, and wasn't designed to work with it, thus it looks unrealistic.
@celestiaproject.bsky.social10
Insufficient descriptive information provided Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn
@webb-telescope.bsky.social5
Now at IRSA: The Euclid Galactic Bulge Survey (EGBS) consists of VIS imaging, photometry, and astrometry over 9 fields (4.8 sq deg). This dataset is an unpreced
@irsaipac.bsky.social4
Un enfant en costume d'astronaute pose devant une fresque murale représentant un astronaute et des éléments spatiaux.
@stellarvisions.bsky.social4
I took a stab at colorizing this New Horizons photo of Pluto. I have mixed feelings about my years in aerospace but am incredibly proud to have supported missio
@jjdiablo.bsky.social2
Adding some lovely posters from JPL to this museum. These are really nice www.jpl.nasa.gov/galleries/vi...
@tcbasche.bsky.social2
An inset image showing clusters of stars from Euclid over a larger image of the galactic center of the Milky Way galaxy.
@rainorshine99.bsky.social1
A photo captured by a space telescope from the linked website, typically showing a wide image of distant galaxies with stars and interstellar gas.
@telescope.stefanbohacek.online.ap.brid.gy1
Prelaunch of Ariane 5 with James Webb Space Telescope. Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope onboard, is seen in the final assembly building ahead of the planned roll to the launch pad, Thursday, Dec. 23, 2021, at Europe’s Spaceport, the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana. The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is a large infrared telescope with a 21.3 foot (6.5 meter) primary mirror. The observatory will study every phase of cosmic history—from within our solar system to the most dist
@spacefeed.bsky.social1
3 sources
livescience.comNew Euclid space telescope image of 60 million Milky Way stars could keep astronomers busy for decadesesa.intESA’s Euclid captures the Milky Way’s crowded heartspace.comHubble Space Telescope images galaxy scientists thought was impossible to find

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