60 million stars in unseen detail: European telescope creates largest photo ever of Milky Way center

The European space telescope Euclid has produced the largest and most detailed photograph to date of the Milky Way's center, revealing more than 60 million stars. This groundbreaking image, captured on March 23, 2025, in just 26 hours, is expected to significantly advance the discovery of new exoplanets.

The composite image, assembled from nine individual photos, showcases not only a vast number of stars but also nebulae and star clusters. The European Space Agency (ESA) highlighted that Euclid's camera is sensitive enough to distinguish individual stars without being overwhelmed by the bright galactic core.

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The camera of Euclid is sensitive enough to be able to distinguish the individual stars from each other, without being blinded.

Astronomers plan to utilize the photograph for detecting and measuring the mass of exoplanets – planets orbiting stars other than our sun. They will employ a technique known as gravitational microlensing, which involves analyzing how the gravity of foreground stars and their planets bends and magnifies the light from more distant objects.

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In the past 20 years, nearly 300 exoplanets have been discovered using this technique. This Euclid image includes 51 known planetary systems, and will aid in the study of many more systems yet to be discovered.

"In the past 20 years, nearly 300 exoplanets have been discovered using this technique," said French astronomer Jean-Philippe Beaulieu. "This Euclid image includes 51 known planetary systems and will aid in the study of many more systems yet to be discovered."

Launched in 2023, Euclid is positioned 1.5 million kilometers from Earth and is tasked with creating the largest 3D map of the universe. While it photographs visible light with the same sharpness as the Hubble telescope, Euclid covers an area 270 times larger per observation. French astronomer Jean-Charles Cuillandre noted, "We have built a telescope that is primarily designed to observe the dark universe... and then we decided to point Euclid at the brightest part of the galaxy."

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We have built a telescope that is primarily designed to observe the dark universe... and then we decided to point Euclid at the brightest part of the galaxy.