Since its launch in December 2013, the European Space Agency&#x2019;s Gaia observatory [has been building](http://sci.esa.int/gaia/) the largest and most detailed 3D star catalog in history. Located some 1.5 million kilometers (932,000 miles) from Earth, the telescope constantly scans our solar system, the Milky Way galaxy, and the wider universe beyond, to log information about the billions of stars and other objects that inhabit these cosmic frontiers.

On Wednesday, ESA [released the second major batch](http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Gaia/Gaia_creates_richest_star_map_of_our_Galaxy_and_beyond) of Gaia&#x2019;s data, based on surveys completed by the observatory between July 2014 and May 2016 (the [first release occurred](https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/aek4kp/gaia-satellite-maps-1142-million-stars-in-the-milky-way) in September 2016).

The Gaia satellite 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. 

The first data release from Gaia, based on just over one year of observations, was published in 2016; it contained distances and motions of two million stars. The new data release, which covers the 22 months between July 2014 and May 2016, pins down the positions of nearly 1.7 billion stars, and with much greater precision. For some of the brightest stars in the survey, the level of precision equates to Earth-bound observers being able to spot a Euro coin lying on the surface of the Moon.

Gaia: The Galactic Census Takes Shape

With this update, the catalog has now recorded the position and brightness of 1.7 billion stars, the color of 1.4 billion stars, and the surface temperature of 161 million stars, according to a [video summary of the results](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VINs-JcNmKs&t=0s). While this is still only a fraction of the estimated 200 to 400 billion stars in our galaxy alone, the wealth of data enables scientists to model known stars in exquisite detail. Take this model of the Hyades cluster, some 153 light years from Earth, which is rendered in three dimensions.

Animated 3D view of the sky as observed by ESA’s Gaia satellite using information from the mission’s second data release.

The bright band in the left half of the image is the Milky Way, where most of the stars in our Galaxy reside. The animation starts with the Orion constellation at the centre; we then move towards the neighbouring Taurus constellation and to the Hyades star cluster, which is part of this constellation. Hyades is the closest open cluster to the Solar System, some 150 light-years away.

The animation first shows the 3D structure of the cluster, based on accurate position and distance information from Gaia. Then an animated view of the future motions of stars is shown – both in Hyades and beyond. This is based on Gaia’s measurements of the velocity of stars across the sky, also known as proper motion.

Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, CC BY SA 3.0 IGO

Acknowledgement: Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC); Gaia Sky; S. Jordan / T. Sagristà, Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Germany

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Learn more: bit.ly/GaiaRickestStarMap

The Hyades cluster

By measuring [stellar parallax](http://abyss.uoregon.edu/~js/glossary/parallax.html), which is the apparent motion of individual stars when observed from opposite sides of Earth&#x2019;s orbit, ESA scientists were also able to plot out the trajectories of hundreds of millions of stars, and approximate their distances from Earth. For a visual demonstration of parallax studies, check out this 360-degree simulation of the effect.

A 360° animated view of the entire sky on 25 April 2018. 

After a few seconds, the stars start moving in the sky according to parallax, an apparent shift caused by Earth’s yearly motion around the Sun. Then, constellation outlines appear as visual aids. Finally, stars start moving according to their true motion through space, which is visible on the sky as proper motion. Parallaxes have been exaggerated by 100 000 and proper motions have been speeded up by one trillion (10^12) to make them visible in this animation. This animation is based on data from the second data release of ESA’s Gaia satellite, which has measured the positions, parallaxes and motions of more than one billion stars across the sky to unprecedented accuracy.

ESA/Gaia/DPAC, CC BY SA 3.0 IGO

Acknowledgement: Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC); Gaia Sky; S. Jordan / T. Sagristà, Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Germany


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360º Parallax and proper motion on the sky

In addition to building this unprecedented star map, Gaia has also been studying our solar backyard. The new infodump includes Gaia&#x2019;s first asteroid survey, which tracked 14,099 small objects within the solar system. Future studies aim to map out the asteroid belt, and provide context for the origins and evolution of the solar system.

Animated view of 14 099 asteroids in our Solar System, as viewed by ESA’s Gaia satellite using information from the mission’s second data release. The orbits of the 200 brightest asteroids are also shown, as determined using Gaia data.

In future data releases, Gaia will also provide asteroid spectra and enable a complete characterisation of the asteroid belt. The combination of dynamical and physical information that is being collected by Gaia provides an unprecedented opportunity to improve our understanding of the origin and the evolution of the Solar System.

Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, CC BY SA 3.0 IGO

Acknowledgement: Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC); Orbits: Gaia Coordinating Unit 4; P. Tanga, Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, France; F. Spoto, IMCCE, Observatoire de Paris, France; Animation: Gaia Sky; S. Jordan / T. Sagristà, Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Germany

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Learn more: bit.ly/GaiaRickestStarMap

Gaia’s first asteroid survey

Gaia has also been focusing some of its attention beyond the Milky Way by logging about half a million quasars, which are extremely energetic galaxies located several billions of light years from Earth.

The best part? All of this information is freely available. Check it out for yourself [at this link](http://gea.esac.esa.int/archive/), and bask in the sheer multitude of spacey data. Stay tuned for more giant downloads from the telescope, because it [has been cleared to continue its work](https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/release) until 2020.

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Watch These Stunning Models of the Largest Star Map Ever Created

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