Southampton scientists say they are closer to understanding cosmic evolution after receiving satellite data.

The University of Southampton team is part of an international consortium analysing findings from the European Space Agency's Euclid satellite, launched in 2023.

These findings, released today, aim to help understand the universe's origins.

Francesco Shankar, professor of astrophysics, said the data is "magnificent" and could reveal how galaxies and supermassive black holes evolved in the early universe.

Professor Shankar said: "Euclid has unveiled large numbers of supermassive black holes which are accreting gas and shining at the centres of galaxies.

"It is a promising step towards finally pinning down how these large monsters form and influence the evolution of their hosting galaxies.

"The spatial resolution of Euclid will allow scientists to set invaluable constraints on the morphological appearance of galaxies across cosmic time and in different environments."

The Euclid satellite is a six-year mission to map the universe's structure by observing billions of galaxies, aiming to shed light on the dark energy and dark matter that scientists believe make up 95 per cent of the cosmos.

Despite covering less than 0.5 per cent of the target study area, the Euclid data is already proving invaluable, according to Southampton's Manda Banerji, one of the satellite's scientists.

Professor Banerji said: "We are already finding many new supermassive black holes which are hidden in the deep universe.

"Euclid is able to peer through dust and gas in galaxies to reveal new populations of black holes that are enshrouded within.

"Over its lifetime, the satellite will completely revolutionise our understanding of galaxies and the black holes within them."

The Euclid mission, lasting until at least 2029, will survey about one-third of the extragalactic sky outside the Milky Way.

The European Space Agency said the quality of the images will be four times sharper than those taken from the ground.

For more information on Euclid, visit www.esa.int.

To read more about the University of Southampton's role in pioneering space technology, visit southampton.ac.uk/aerospace