Photo of the day: Horsehead Nebula

This undated handout obtained on November 2, 2023, from the European Space Agency (ESA), shows an alternative crop of astronomical images of a Horsehead Nebula taken during ESA's Euclid space mission, which is built and operated by the European Space Agency ESA and with contributions from NASA. The first images from Europe's Euclid space telescope were released on November 7, showing a nebula resembling a horse's head, never-before-seen distant galaxies and even "circumstantial evidence" of elusive dark matter. Euclid blasted off in July on the world's first-ever mission aiming to investigate the enduring cosmic mysteries of dark matter and dark energy. It will do so partly by charting one-third of the sky—encompassing a mind-boggling two billion galaxies—to create what has been billed as the most accurate 3D map of the universe ever.
Image: AFP Photo/Esa/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA