Star-tracking astronomers have produced an eye-opening new map of the galaxy, and it is really something to see if you’re interested in the stars.
Using data collected by the European Space Agency’s Gaia observatory, they created what is being called the most detailed 3D map of the galaxy ever made, MIT Technology Review reported.
Gaia, which was started in 2013, is able to observe as many stars as possible and track their position, distance, motion and brightness with precision to be able to catalog about 1 billion objects, according to MIT.
The data collected was then visualized in a map that shows the path of everything Gaia could track.
#GaiaEDR3 brings more precise proper motions. In this image we highlight the displacement of stars on the sky 400 thousand years into the future: https://t.co/4jPaHEGHks pic.twitter.com/4XKp4lhRg3
— ESA Gaia (@ESAGaia) December 3, 2020
Eventually, Gaia will be able to make motion measurements that are accurate up to a kilometer per second for stars that are 20,000 parsecs away, Nature reported.
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