In Euclid’s image of the Horsehead Nebula and its surroundings, free-floating planets can be found. The Horsehead is a region in the Orion molecular cloud complex, where star and planet formation are taking place. One example of a free-floating planet highlighted in this image is SOri62, a young planet with a mass equal to ten times that of Jupiter. The planet has a temperature of 1200 degrees Celsius and shines bright in infrared light. This image of the Horsehead Nebula was captured by the Euclid space telescope in near-infrared light.
Read more about Euclid’s view of the Horsehead Nebula
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Read more about Euclid's first images
[Image description: This square astronomical image is divided horizontally by a waving line between a white-orange cloudscape forming a nebula along the bottom portion and a comparatively blue-purple-pink upper portion. From the nebula in the bottom half of the image, an orange cloud shaped like a horsehead sticks out. In the bottom left of the image, a white round glow is visible. The clouds from the bottom half of the image shine purple/blue light into the upper half. The top of the image shows the black expanse of space. Speckled across both portions is a starfield, showing stars of varying sizes and colours. Blue stars are younger and red stars are older.]