ESA title

The mission

Gaia is creating an extraordinarily precise three-dimensional map of more than a thousand million stars throughout our Milky Way galaxy and beyond, mapping their motions, luminosity, temperature and composition. This huge stellar census will provide the data needed to tackle an enormous range of important questions related to the origin, structure and evolutionary history of our galaxy.

 

  • Launch: 19 December 2013
  • Orbit: L2 Lagrange point
  • Previous data release milestones:
    Data Release 1: 14 September 2016
    Data Release 2: 25 April 2018
    Early Data Release 3: 3 December 2020
    Data Release 3: 13 June 2022
    Focused Product Release: 10 October 2023
Gaia

Latest

Science & Exploration

Gaia spots possible moons around hundreds of asteroids

08/08/2024 7041 views 61 likes
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Gaia mapping the stars of the Milky Way
Enabling & Support

Double trouble: Gaia hit by micrometeoroid and solar storm

17/07/2024 22630 views 174 likes
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Science & Exploration

Scientists spot hidden companions of bright stars

20/06/2024 2823 views 13 likes
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Science & Exploration

Gaia: Milky Way’s last major collision was surprisingly rec…

06/06/2024 7051 views 46 likes
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Science & Exploration

Sailing among the stars – Gaia's role in discovering distan…

22/04/2024 2550 views 16 likes
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More items

Science & Exploration

10 times more stars: Comparing two Gaia views of Omega Centauri (slider)

10/10/2023 1930 views 41 likes
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About Gaia