The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its 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.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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The planetary nebula known as Cat’s Eye Nebula or NGC 6543, as observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (background image) and with ESA's Gaia satellite (blue points). It is located some 3000 light-years from us.
Planetary nebulae are formed when the outer layers of an aging low-mass star are ejected and interact with the surrounding interstellar medium, leaving behind a compact white dwarf.
Between July and August 2014, as Gaia performed many subsequent observations of a few patches of the sky close to the ecliptic poles, the satellite made over 200 observations of the Cat’s Eye Nebula, located close to the north ecliptic pole. While doing so, Gaia registered over 84 000 detections that accurately trace out the intricate gaseous filaments that such objects are famous for.