Free Republic

Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency on Tuesday released the first images from its Euclid space telescope, which is designed to observe deep space in the hopes of unlocking the mysteries of the universe. The five detailed images show the Perseus Galaxy Cluster, the IC 342 spiral galaxy, globular cluster NGC 6397, irregular galaxy NGC 6822, and the Horseshoe Nebula. 1 of 2 | The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope has released its first five images, including this image of the Perseus galaxy cluster. Photo courtesy of European Space Agency "Never before has a telescope been able...

Explanation: Similar in size to large, bright spiral galaxies in our neighborhood, IC 342 is a mere 10 million light-years distant in the long-necked, northern constellation Camelopardalis. A sprawling island universe, IC 342 would otherwise be a prominent galaxy in our night sky, but it is hidden from clear view and only glimpsed through the veil of stars, gas and dust clouds along the plane of our own Milky Way galaxy. Even though IC 342's light is dimmed by intervening cosmic clouds, this deep telescopic image traces the galaxy's obscuring dust, blue star clusters, and glowing pink star forming regions...

Explanation: Similar in size to large, bright spiral galaxies in our neighborhood, IC 342 is a mere 10 million light-years distant in the long-necked, northern constellation Camelopardalis. A sprawling island universe, IC 342 would otherwise be a prominent galaxy in our night sky, but it is hidden from clear view and only glimpsed through the veil of stars, gas and dust clouds along the plane of our own Milky Way galaxy. Even though IC 342's light is dimmed by intervening cosmic clouds, this deep telescopic image traces the galaxy's obscuring dust, blue star clusters, and glowing pink star forming regions...