ESA's Euclid telescope spent a single 26-hour stare on the crowded Galactic center and produced the largest high-resolution visible-light image yet of that region, resolving more than 60 million stars. The mosaic is roughly six gigapixels and covers a patch of sky about 22 times the full Moon, with color added using ground-based images to produce the final view. Euclid delivers Hubble-quality imaging over a field of view about 250 times larger than Hubble's, giving clear, wide-area detail across the bulge. The consortium led by Euclid team members including researchers at Leiden University says the dataset will help searches for hidden planets and support future campaigns by NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. ESA released the image on June 24, 2026, and observers note it provides an early snapshot of the region Roman will repeatedly observe in coming years. The result demonstrates Euclid's ability to map crowded stellar fields in the Milky Way while pursuing its primary mission to map the dark universe.
