Galaxy Cluster Abell 3128: Euclid’s New View

Look closely at this galaxy cluster. Those little glowing dots are not stars. Almost every one is a whole galaxy, holding billions of stars of its own.

This is the galaxy cluster Abell 3128. Europe's Euclid space telescope took the picture. It was shared on 12 November 2026.

A galaxy cluster is like a city of galaxies. Hundreds of them are gathered together, held in place by gravity.

Euclid is run by the European Space Agency, with help from NASA. It went to space in July 2023. It floats about 1.5 million kilometres from Earth. From there, it has a calm, clear view of the deep sky.

Light older than the dinosaurs

Here is something to think about. Abell 3128 is about 800 million light-years away. So the light you are looking at set off 800 million years ago. It has been flying through space ever since, until Euclid caught it.

That means you are not seeing these galaxies as they are today. You are seeing them as they looked long, long ago. When that light began its trip, no dinosaur had ever walked on Earth. Yes, you read that right. They were still 500 million years away!

Two huge, pale galaxies sit near the top. They look calm and round, like soft glowing eggs. Round galaxies like these are usually full of very old stars. Around them float hundreds of smaller ones. Some are spirals. Some are seen side-on, like thin needles.

Abell 3128 has neighbours too. It is part of a huge family of more than 30 clusters. Its name, Horologium, means "the clock".

The hidden surprises

Now look near the middle. Do you see thin blue arcs? That is a gravitational lens.

Gravity can bend light. Here, a huge mass in front acts like a magnifying glass. It stretches a faraway galaxy into thin, glowing arcs.

There is one more secret. A second cluster, called ACT-CL J0330-5227, appears in the same spot. They look like neighbours. But here is the catch: it lies about 5 billion light-years farther away. From Earth, the two simply line up, like a nearby tree in front of a distant hill.

Just one page of a giant book

Euclid needed only about 70 minutes to take this photo. It shows a tiny patch of sky, about half as big as the full Moon looks to us.

But it is one tiny part of something huge. On the same day, Euclid shared its first big batch of data. It took about 13 months to collect. It holds more than 900 million galaxies. It also holds about 15,000 possible lenses like the one above.

Carole Mundell is ESA's Director of Science. She put it simply: "These are far more than beautiful pictures; today marks a scientific milestone in our study of the cosmos."

Why does it matter? Galaxies have been growing for billions of years, and we still do not fully know how. Euclid is trying to solve two of the biggest puzzles in science. They are dark matter and dark energy. We cannot see either one. But bent light, like these blue arcs, shows where hidden mass is.

At NavsoraTimes, we could stare at this picture for hours. Every time we zoom in, another galaxy appears. And this is still only about 14% of the sky Euclid plans to map.

Euclid will not be alone for long. NASA's Roman Space Telescope will soon join the search.

Euclid's next big release is planned for mid-2027. More sky. More galaxies. More surprises. Somewhere in there, the answer to the universe's darkest puzzle may be waiting.