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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Gaia-5b is a brown dwarf orbiting the Gaia-5 star, around 134 light-years away from Earth. With a mass of around 21 Jupiters, Gaia-5b is more massive than a planet but too light to sustain nuclear fusion to be a star. This artist impression visualises a portion of the orbital motion as determined by Gaia’s astrometric data. The star and planet are not to scale.
[Image description: This image shows a red star as a fiery globe in the middle of a dark starry sky. The star has black spots on its surface, and has flares around it. To the right of the star, a smaller round object is portrayed, the left side of which is lighter than the right side. The object has two stripes. Coming from the object’s backside is a half elliptical red beam, making it seem like the object is in motion around the star.]