ESA Science & Technology - Gaia
A 500-day global observation campaign spearheaded more than three years ago by ESA’s galaxy-mapping powerhouse Gaia has provided unprecedented insights into the binary system of stars that caused an unusual brightening of an even more distant star.
ESA Science & Technology - Fact Sheet - European Space Agency
Gaia was adopted within the scientific programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) in October 2000. The mission aims to: measure the positions of about 1 billion stars both in our Galaxy and other members of the Local Group, with an accuracy down to 24 microarcseconds; perform spectral and photometric measurements of all objects
ESA Science & Technology - Spacecraft - European Space Agency
Sep 1, 2019 · The Gaia spacecraft is comprised of three major functional modules: The Payload Module containing the optical instrument and all electronics required to manage its operation and process its raw data.
ESA Science & Technology - Summary - European Space Agency
Sep 1, 2019 · The main goal of the Gaia mission is to make the largest, most precise three-dimensional map of our Galaxy by surveying an unprecedented one per cent of the galaxy's population of 100 billion stars. Navigation
ESA Science & Technology - Objectives - European Space Agency
Gaia is designed with a single, primary goal in mind: to investigate the origin and subsequent evolution of our Galaxy, the Milky Way. To do this, it will conduct an astronomical census of 1 billion stars, allowing astronomers to build the most accurate three-dimensional map to date of the celestial objects in our Galaxy.
ESA Science & Technology - Gaia creates richest star map of our …
Apr 25, 2018 · ESA's Gaia mission has produced the richest star catalogue to date, including high-precision measurements of nearly 1.7 billion stars and revealing previously unseen details of our home Galaxy.
ESA Science & Technology - Gaia mission - European Space Agency
ESA's Gaia mission has one main goal, to map the Milky Way more extensively and with greater precision than any other mission to date. Using astrometry, the science of measuring the distance and motion of stars, Gaia will map a billion stars over a 5 year period to produce a comprehensive catalogue of measurements that will impact on most areas ...
ESA Science & Technology - Multimedia Gallery
Gaia is an ambitious mission to chart a three-dimensional map of our Galaxy, the Milky Way, in the process revealing the composition, formation and evolution of the Galaxy.
ESA Science & Technology - Payload Module - European Space …
Nov 2, 2020 · The Gaia focal plane will be the largest ever developed, with 106 CCDs, a total of almost 1 Gigapixels and physical dimensions of 0.5m × 1m. The focal plane assembly is common to both telescopes and serves five main functions (in order of occurrence):
ESA Science & Technology - Gaia's first sky map
Sep 14, 2016 · An all-sky view of stars in our Galaxy – the Milky Way – and neighbouring galaxies, based on the first year of observations from ESA's Gaia satellite, from July 2014 to September 2015. This map shows the density of stars observed by …