ESA 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.The data comprises just one weeks worth of deep field images from three points in space. They represent just 0.4% of the total area that Euclid is expected to image, which scientists say will be the biggest-ever 3D map of the sky.With one scan of each region so far, Euclid has already spotted 26 million galaxies, each potentially containing millions of stars and billions of planets. The furthest of these galaxies are 10.5 billion light years away from Earth, meaning the images you see are almost as old as the universe itself.The Euclid map of the starsThe Cats Eye Nebula, one of the most complex planetary nebulae ever seen in space, as captured by Euclid. Credit: ESAHiding amongst all those millions of galaxies are rare phenomena called gravitational lenses or Einstein rings, named as such because they prove Albert Einsteins prediction that gravity warps spacetime, causing light to bend as it travels through. Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive object, like a galaxy or black hole, bends the light from a galaxy behind it forming visible distortions or arcs around the galaxys nucleus.Get TicketsIn this new batch of data, Euclid has more than doubled the number of gravitational lenses that have been captured from space. ESA estimates that Euclid will capture 100,000 strong gravitational lenses by the end of its six-year mission, around 100 times more than currently known. Todays data has also revealed an even rarer phenomenon: double gravitational lensing, also called double source plane lensing. This happens when light from two distant galaxies passes through the same galaxy, causing a double lensing effect.Double gravitational lensesA collage of gravitational lenses from Euclids first major data drop, released today. Credit: ESALook at the image above and go to the fourth column, third from the bottom. The image is faint but you can make out two outer arcs and then two inner arcs close to the centre of the galaxy nucleus. Thats a double gravitational lens.Double gravitational lensing could help scientists better understand dark energy and the expansion of the universe, because, in theory, an expanding universe will determine the angle of the arcs.Double-source plane lenses are so rare that only a few have ever been found, said Euclid Consortium scientist Mike Walmsley at a press briefing. But we think weve found four good candidates already from just a weeks worth of data covering a fraction of the night sky. Were confident that Euclid will quickly capture enough of them to allow scientists to start measuring their effects.To find such rare phenomena hiding amidst Euclids images, the European Space Agency (ESA) enlisted the help of thousands of volunteers and AI algorithms.The AI-powered galaxy finderLaunched in 2023, Euclid has observed about 14% of its total survey area so far. By the time its mission is complete, the telescope is expected to capture images of more than 1.5 billion galaxies, sending back around 100GB of data every day.These images provide scientists with unprecedented opportunities and huge problems when it comes to finding, categorising, and analysing all the objects within them.To speed up the process, the Euclid consortium has developed an AI-powered galaxy spotter called Zoobot. The algorithm was trained on decades worth of citizen science work, from volunteers who scan through images and identify each object.From todays data drop, Zoobot put together a detailed catalogue of 360,000 galaxies. Thousands of volunteers from the Space Warps citizen science project then sorted through the most promising candidates. Thats how the gravitational lenses were identified.A collage of deep field south, a portion of the night sky never captured in such detail. Credit: ESAWere at a pivotal moment in terms of how we tackle large-scale surveys in astronomy. AI is a fundamental and necessary part of our process in order to fully exploit Euclids vast dataset, said Walmsley, who has worked onbeen heavily involved in astronomical deep learning algorithms for the last decade.The dark universe explorerEuclid launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida on 1 July, 2023. It returned its first images in August of that year, and in May last year released its first scientific data.Euclids mission is to shed light on two of the universes most perplexing mysteries: dark energy and dark matter , thought to make up 95% of the cosmos. Scientists theorise that dark energy is responsible for accelerating the universes expansion and that dark matter acts as cosmic glue that holds the galaxies together. Yet the nature of these components is still unknown.To build its 3D map of the night sky, the telescope is deploying two high-tech cameras: VIS, which captures the cosmos in visible light, and NISP, which measures the distances to galaxies and the expansion speed of the universe.Euclid is set to provide us with an unprecedented chronology of the history of the cosmos and help us unravel the mysteries of the universe and our own existence.The three deep field previews can now be explored in the ESASky app. Euclid Deep Field South here, Euclid Deep Field Fornax here, Euclid Deep Field North here. Story by Sin Geschwindt Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecos (show all) Sin is a climate and energy reporter at TNW. From nuclear fusion to escooters, he covers the length and breadth of Europe's clean tech ecosystem. He's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. Sin has five years journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.