Tag: ESA GAIA

The most accurate 3D map of stellar nurseries in the Milky Way

Scientists created the most accurate three-dimensional map of star-formation regions in our Milky Way galaxy, based on data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia space telescope. This map will teach us more about these obscure cloudy areas, and the hot young stars that shape them.

It is notoriously difficult to map and study regions in space where stars form because they are usually hidden from view by thick clouds of gas and dust, whose distances cannot be directly measured.

Gaia can’t see these clouds directly, but it can measure stellar positions and the so-called ‘extinction’ of stars. This means it can see how much light from stars is blocked by dust. From this, scientists can create 3D maps showing where the dust is, and use those maps to figure out how much ionised hydrogen gas is present – a telltale sign of star formation.

The new 3D map of star-forming regions in the Milky Way is based on Gaia observations of 44 million ‘ordinary’ stars and 87 O-type stars. The map extends to a distance of 4000 light-years from us, with the Sun at the centre.

Read more: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Gaia/Fly_through_Gaia_s_3D_map_of_stellar_nurseries

Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Animation: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, S. Payne-Wardenaar, L. McCallum et al (2025), CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Music:
My Story – Echoes Of The Heart

Access the video on the ESA video library: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2025/09/The_most_accurate_3D_map_of_stellar_nurseries_in_the_Milky_Way

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September 16, 2025
Is our galaxy really going to collide with Andromeda? 🤯

For years, astronomers believed the Milky Way and Andromeda were on a direct collision course in about 4.5 billion years. But new research using data from our Gaia mission and Hubble Space Telescope suggests the story isn’t so simple.

After running 100 000 simulations with the most precise data available, scientists now say there’s only a 50% chance the two galaxies will collide in the next 10 billion years.

The Large Magellanic Cloud, one of our satellite galaxies, could be tugging the Milky Way just enough to steer it away from Andromeda. Instead of crashing, the two galaxies might simply orbit each other in a slow cosmic dance.

So the fate of the Milky Way remains uncertain. And with the Sun expected to make Earth uninhabitable in about a billion years, a galaxy collision is low on our list of concerns.

📹 European Space Agency (ESA)
📸 NASA, ESA, STScI, Till Sawala (University of Helsinki), DSS, J. DePasquale (STScI)

#ESA #Space #Science

July 16, 2025
Gaia: Rewriting the story of the Milky Way

For over a decade, ESA’s Gaia mission has mapped our galaxy with stunning precision—rewriting the story of the Milky Way. As its mission enters a new phase, we look back at its most groundbreaking discoveries.

Credit: ESA – European Space Agency

Chapters:
00:23 – Mapping the Milky Way and beyond
00:58 – Structure of the Milky Way
01:40 – Galactic family tree
02:27 – Mapping star-forming regions
03:00 – Ancient star streams
03:19 – Cosmic encounters
04:07 – Black holes and hidden giants

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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.

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March 30, 2025
Have we detected the first medium-sized #BlackHole? 🤔 #shorts

Our #Gaia spacecraft has captured a huge dark blob, 800 times more massive than our Sun which seems to be squeezed into a surprisingly small volume of space suggesting it could be an intermediate-mass black hole.

Read more 👉 https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2023/05/Has_Gaia_found_missing_link_in_black_hole_evolution/

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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.

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#ESA
#Gaia
#Blackhole

June 12, 2023
We discovered a unique #BlackHole 🕳️🕳️ #shorts

Using data from our Gaia mission, astronomers have discovered not only the closest but also the second closest black hole to Earth. The black holes, Gaia BH1 and Gaia BH2, are respectively located just 1560 light-years away from us in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus and 3800 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus. In galactic terms, these black holes reside in our cosmic backyard.

The two black holes were discovered by studying the movement of their companion stars. A strange ‘wobble’ in the movement of the stars on the sky indicated that they are orbiting a very massive object. In both cases, the objects are approximately ten times more massive than our Sun. Other explanations for these massive companions, like double-star systems, were ruled out since they do not seem to emit any light.

📹 @EuropeanSpaceAgency
📸 ESA/Gaia/DPAC; Creative commons CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

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#ESA
#GAIA
#BlackHoles

April 18, 2023
Gaia discovers a unique black hole

ESA’s Gaia mission has helped discover a new kind of black hole. The new family already has two members, and both are closer to Earth than any other black hole that we know of.

The two black holes were discovered by studying ultra-precise measurements of stellar positions and motions in Gaia’s third data release.

A strange ‘wobble’ in the movement of two stars on the sky indicated that they are orbiting a very massive object. In both cases, the objects are approximately ten times more massive than our Sun. Other explanations for these massive companions, like double-star systems, were ruled out since they do not seem to emit any light.

Gaia’s second black hole, BH2, is located 3800 light-years away from Earth. It is a binary system consisting of a red giant star and likely a black hole.

In this animation of Gaia BH2, created in Gaia Sky, the orbits are accurately sized, but the back hole diameter is not to scale.

Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC

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We are Europe’s gateway to space. Our mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Check out https://www.esa.int/ to get up to speed on everything space related.

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#ESA
#Earth
#EarthObservation

April 4, 2023