The European Space Agency has released the first major batch of data from its dark universe telescope Euclid.
Whats inside could change our understanding of dark matter and the expansion of the universe.
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This happens when light from two distant galaxies passes through the same galaxy, causing a double lensing effect.
Thats a double gravitational lens.
Were confident that Euclid will quickly capture enough of them to allow scientists to start measuring their effects.
To speed up the process, the Euclid consortium has developed an AI-powered galaxy spotter called Zoobot.
From todaysdatadrop, Zoobot put together a detailed catalogue of 360,000 galaxies.
Thousandsof volunteers from theSpace Warpscitizen science project then sorted through the most promising candidates.
Thats how the gravitational lenses were identified.
Were at a pivotal moment in terms of how we tackle large-scale surveys in astronomy.
It returned itsfirst imagesin August of that year, and in May last year released itsfirst scientific data.
Yet the nature of these components is still unknown.
Story bySion Geschwindt
Sion is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy.
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