As Gaia rotates, thin strips of observed space gradually build a 3D map - data from each star to be collected around 70 times
Gaia’s dual telescopes image the cosmos and record the astrometry of two million stars an hour, sending 50GB of data back to Earth every day
Source: ESA
Graphic: Pete Guest, Guardian Graphics
Mapping the heavens
The European Space Agency’s Gaia project seeks to create a 3D map of our galaxy - the Milky Way. It will do this by measuring the astrometry (positions and movements) of one billion its 200 billion stars. The telescope will also survey supernovae, super-massive black holes, exoplanets, star clusters, and dust clouds, as well as objects within the solar system, such as comets and asteroids. Gaia is currently one year and eleven months into its five-year mission
Spectometry
Photometry
Astrometry
Star detection
Metrology and alignment
Smartphone image sensor to scale
The 106 CCD image sensors make Gaia the most powerful camera ever taken into space. The sensors are ordered in arrays which serve different purposes
How it works
Earth
(+six months)
Apparent shift
in position
Sun
Star
Earth
Distances of stars are triangulated by apparent changes in their position against the background of distant objects as the Earth orbits the Sun. This effect is known as parallax
The instruments onboard are so sensitive that they can detect a parallax shift equivalent to the width of a pound coin on the Moon
Inside the telescope
The Mission
The Gaia telescope explained
Dual telescope
Fixed solar panels
Unfurled solar panels
Sunshield
Antenna
Payload module
Service module
106-CCD camera
Thermal panel
As Gaia rotates, thin strips of observed space gradually build a 3D map - data from each star to be collected around 70 times
Gaia’s dual telescopes image the cosmos and record the astrometry of two million stars an hour, sending 50GB of data back to Earth every day
Source: ESA
Graphic: Pete Guest, Guardian Graphics
Mapping the heavens
The European Space Agency’s Gaia project seeks to create a 3D map of our galaxy - the Milky Way. It will do this by measuring the astrometry (positions and movements) of one billion its 200 billion stars. The telescope will also survey supernovae, super-massive black holes, exoplanets, star clusters, and dust clouds, as well as objects within the solar system, such as comets and asteroids. Gaia is currently one year and eleven months into its five-year mission
Spectometry
Photometry
Astrometry
Star detection
Metrology and alignment
Smartphone image sensor to scale
The 106 CCD image sensors make Gaia the most powerful camera ever taken into space. The sensors are ordered in arrays which serve different purposes
How it works
Earth (+six months)
Apparent shift in position
Sun
Star
Earth
Distances of stars are triangulated by apparent changes in their position against the background of distant objects as the Earth orbits the Sun. This effect is known as parallax
The instruments onboard are so sensitive that they can detect a parallax shift equivalent to the width of a pound coin on the Moon
Inside the telescope
The Mission
Dual telescope
Fixed solar panels
Unfurled solar panels
Sunshield
Antenna
Payload module
Service module
106-CCD camera
Thermal panel
The Gaia telescope explained
As Gaia rotates, thin strips of observed space gradually build a 3D map - data from each star to be collected around 70 times
Gaia’s dual telescopes image the cosmos and record the astrometry of two million stars an hour, sending 50GB of data back to Earth every day
Source: ESA
Graphic: Pete Guest, Guardian Graphics
Mapping the heavens
The European Space Agency’s Gaia project seeks to create a 3D map of our galaxy - the Milky Way. It will do this by measuring the astrometry (positions and movements) of one billion its 200 billion stars. The telescope will also survey supernovae, super-massive black holes, exoplanets, star clusters, and dust clouds, as well as objects within the solar system, such as comets and asteroids. Gaia is currently one year and eleven months into its five-year mission
Spectometry
Photometry
Astrometry
Star detection
Metrology and alignment
Smartphone image sensor to scale
The 106 CCD image sensors make Gaia the most powerful camera ever taken into space. The sensors are ordered in arrays which serve different purposes
How it works
Earth (+six months)
Apparent shift in position
Sun
Star
Earth
Distances of stars are triangulated by apparent changes in their position against the background of distant objects as the Earth orbits the Sun. This effect is known as parallax
The instruments onboard are so sensitive that they can detect a parallax shift equivalent to the width of a pound coin on the Moon
Inside the telescope
The Mission
Dual telescope
Fixed solar panels
Unfurled solar panels
Sunshield
Antenna
Payload module
Service module
106-CCD camera
Thermal panel
The Gaia telescope explained
As Gaia rotates, thin strips of observed space gradually build a 3D map - data from each star to be collected around 70 times
Gaia’s dual telescopes image the cosmos and record the astrometry of two million stars an hour, sending 50GB of data back to Earth every day
super-massive black holes, exoplanets, star clusters, and dust clouds, as well as objects within the solar system, such as comets and asteroids. Gaia is currently one year and eleven months into its five-year mission
The European Space Agency’s Gaia project seeks to create a 3D map of our galaxy - the Milky Way. It will do this by measuring the astrometry (positions and movements) of one billion its 200 billion stars. The telescope will also survey supernovae,
Source: ESA
Graphic: Pete Guest, Guardian Graphics
Spectometry
Photometry
Astrometry
Star detection
Metrology and alignment
The 106 CCD image sensors make Gaia the most powerful camera ever taken into space. The sensors are ordered in arrays which serve different purposes
Earth (+six months)
Apparent shift in position
Sun
Star
Earth
Distances of stars are triangulated by apparent changes in their position against the background of distant objects as the Earth orbits the Sun. This effect is known as parallax
The instruments onboard are so sensitive that they can detect a parallax shift equivalent to the width of a pound coin on the Moon
Smartphone image sensor to scale
Mapping the heavens
How it works
Inside the telescope
Dual telescope
Fixed solar panels
Unfurled solar panels
Sunshield
Antenna
Payload module
Service module
106-CCD camera
Thermal panel
The Gaia telescope explained