International Space Science & Technology

ESA's Euclid opens DR1-Foundation, a catalogue of more than 900 million galaxies

12 November 2026

The European Space Agency's Euclid telescope has made public its first large batch of survey data, called DR1-Foundation. It is built from about 13 months of observing and covers 1,900 square degrees of sky. The release lists more than 900 million galaxies, over 60 million quasar candidates and roughly 1.7 million GB of data in all. It also carries what is described as the largest catalogue of strong gravitational lens candidates ever assembled. Scientists will use it to start building a 3D map of the cosmos and to study dark energy and dark matter. Even so, it covers only about 14% of the area Euclid will finally survey. The complete Data Release 1, adding weak lensing results, is due in mid-2027. Euclid was launched on 1 July 2023.

Galaxies in DR1-Foundation: more than 900 million Sky area: 1,900 square degrees Quasar candidates: more than 60 million Full DR1: mid-2027

Why it matters for exams: Euclid is ESA's dark-universe mission; who runs it, what it studies (dark energy and dark matter) and its launch year are standard science questions.

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12 November 2026 Source: European Space Agency (ESA)

In plain words

ESA European Space Agency — Europe's intergovernmental space agency, headquartered in Paris.

Quasar Quasi-stellar object — The extremely bright core of a distant galaxy powered by a supermassive black hole.

Gravitational lensing — Bending of light from a distant object by the gravity of a massive foreground object.