The Milky Way’s Center: over 60 million stars | Europe's Euclid Space Telescope

 The Milky Way’s Center: over 60 million stars | Europe's Euclid Space Telescope

The galactic bulge—the central region of our galaxy—is a vast, tightly packed structure filled mainly with old, cooler stars, giving it its characteristic yellow color. Seen from about 26,000 light-years away, the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope observes the galaxy’s center through a complex foreground of material along its line of sight.  

This ultra-wide view towards the bulge reveals not only stars, but also seemingly empty dark regions. The dark patches are not devoid of stars. They mark dense, dust-rich molecular clouds that absorb and scatter light from the bulge behind them. As Euclid looks through two of the Milky Way’s spiral arms, it also encounters regions of active star formation, traced by newly formed, massive blue stars. Their intense ultraviolet radiation ionizes surrounding hydrogen gas, producing the faint red glow.

Learn more about this image: 
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid/ESA_s_Euclid_captures_the_Milky_Way_s_crowded_heart

ESA's Euclid Space Telescope:
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Euclid

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Image Date: March 23, 2025
Release Date: June 24, 2026

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