The European Space Agency ( ESA ) has liberate the first data from theGaia mission , which has the grand task of establish the most precise 3D mathematical function of the Milky Way .
Equipped with a billion - picture element camera , the space observatory has been assess the position and velocity of cosmic objects since December 2013 , and now ESA is quick to publish the first stage set of data , which contains the position in the sky of one billion star topology , and the position in the Galax urceolata and the velocity of about two million of those .
“ The cardinal requirement for the mission is to understand the Milky Way galaxy better , ” Timo Prusti , ESA Gaia Project Scientist , say in apress conference .
“ In a way , the Milky Way is an easy target . Wherever you front , you look at the Milky Way . At the same time , it ’s extremely unmanageable because to infer it completely you have to expect in all direction . ”
This first data showcases the capabilities of the pawn . The probe is so accurate that it can guess the sizing of a coin on the Moon . It can see object 500,000 time fainter than the human heart , and it will observe every wiz about 70 times . This has let an incrediblyprecise mapof one billion star to be made , which we ’d highly recommend you watch out .
The map of one billion superstar measured by Gaia . ESA / Gaia Collaboration
“ What is particular about this map , is it hold more than one billion stars and it ’s the largest map made from a exclusive survey and it ’s also the most accurate mapping ever made , ” added Anthony Brown , from the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium , Leiden University , in the closet league .
But the precision measurements of stars is not the only object lens of Gaia . The probe ’s accurate nosecount of the Milky Way ’s stellar universe will render new insights on how our galaxy formed . Gaia will also take care for Jupiter - size of it exoplanets up to 500 light - years from Earth and , if all of this was n’t enough , the investigation will also be on the look - out for nearby asteroids . By the end of the mission , it is expect to have assort tens of G of them .
The final data button is expected to be published towards the end of 2017 .
