Euclid space telescope finds 1.5 trillion orphan stars wandering the Perseus cluster (images)

A Euclid image of the Perseus cluster of galaxies bathed in a gentle, soft blue light emanating from orphan stars. These orphan stars are dispersed throughout the cluster, extending up to 2 million light-years from its centre.

Using the Euclid space telescope, scientists have discovered a staggering 1.5 trillion orphan stars drifting through a massive cluster of thousands of galaxies, one of the largest structures in the cosmos. 

These orphan stars, ripped free from their own galaxies, are filling the space between the galaxies of the Perseus cluster with ghostly blue light. This so-called "intracluster" light is so faint that it is many thousands of times darker than the night sky over Earth.