The Gaia spacecraft has unearthed a new treasure trove of secrets about our galaxy — and beyond. The European Space Agency (ESA) mission plans to produce the largest, most precise 3D map of the Milky Way. To achieve this lofty goal, Gaia is surveying almost 2 billion celestial objects. Using two optical telescopes, the satellite is monitoring their motions, luminosity, temperature, and computation. Every observation could unravel new details about Earth and the surrounding Universe. The new release fills in some big gaps in the maps. Gaia had already provided a pretty comprehensive view of the Milky Way and beyond…
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