Euclid Craft Captures Image of Our Galaxy’s Doppelganger

22nd Oct 2024
Euclid Craft Captures Image of Our Galaxy’s Doppelganger

You’ve heard the theory that every person has a doppelganger somewhere. Well, what about galaxies?

The ESA’s Euclid craft, launched last year with a four-foot wide telescope, has now snapped an image of a galaxy that looks a lot like ours. This spiral galaxy is called GC 6744 and was caught in brilliant detail by the Euclid’s telescope.

Beautiful GC 6744 Galaxy captured by ESA’s Euclid Spacecraft

the spiral galaxy GC 6744 - Euclid
The spiral galaxy GC 6744 amid a background of many more galaxies, and stars, too. Credit: ESA / Euclid / Euclid Consortium / NASA // Image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre (CEA Paris-Saclay) / G. Anselmi

Though GC6744 may look similar to the galaxy we know, it is being referred to as a “big brother” because it is nearly twice the size. It’s 175,000 light-years across, and the Milky Way is 100,000 light-years across. 

GC 6744 is a massive 30 million light years from our own galaxy and the image shows its spiral arms which play a big role in compressing gases. The ESA’s facilities are capable of taking some very impressive and detailed images. It is on the lookout for the elusive dark matter in the universe. Scientists know that dark matter exists but it is incredibly elusive. “This might be a surprise, but we don’t know what most of the universe is made of. Seriously, we don’t,” NASA explains. Euclid is in the early phase of its mission.

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