Gaia Mission

The Gaia Mission, launched by the European Space Agency in 2013, is a space observatory that maps the position, distance, and movement of over a billion stars and celestial objects in our galaxy. By precisely measuring their locations and motions, Gaia helps scientists understand the structure, formation, and evolution of the Milky Way. Its detailed catalog improves our knowledge of stellar life cycles, the distribution of dark matter, and the overall dynamics of our galaxy, providing a comprehensive, three-dimensional map of the cosmos that benefits astronomy and astrophysics worldwide.