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

Scientists spot hidden companions of bright stars

20/06/2024 1823 views 12 likes
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Science & Exploration

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

06/06/2024 4731 views 39 likes
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Science & Exploration

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

22/04/2024 2004 views 15 likes
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Science & Exploration

Sleeping giant surprises Gaia scientists

16/04/2024 29877 views 64 likes
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Science & Exploration

Gaia unravels the ancient threads of the Milky Way

21/03/2024 13184 views 52 likes
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Science & Exploration

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

10/10/2023 1410 views 31 likes
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About Gaia