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.
Credit: European Space Agency (ESA)
Animation: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, S. Payne-Wardenaar, L. McCallum et al (2025), CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
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