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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This artist illustration shows the Local Bubble surrounding the Sun. This is a relatively empty patch of space with less dust and gas than typical for other surrounding regions. This peanut-shaped ‘bubble’ moves together with the Sun on its orbit around the Milky Way centre.
Using data from ESA’s Gaia mission, scientists discovered that around 14 million years ago a series of supernovae pushed out the interstellar gas to create the bubble, triggering star formation on its surface. All young stars and star-forming regions out to about 500 light-years from the Sun sit on this bubble. The Local Bubble spreads out a thousand light-years and keeps growing. Scientists believe that the series of explosive events created the perfect conditions that lead to star-formation taking place in the solar neighbourhood.