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Science
Related: About this forumGaia space observatory bids farewell after a decade of mapping the stars - PBS NewsHour
After more than a decade of mapping billions of stars across the Milky Way and beyond, a groundbreaking spacecraft is retiring. The European Space Agencys space-based observatory known as Gaia is leaving behind a legacy of stunning discoveries that changed what we know about the universe. John Yang reports. - Aired on 04/20/2025.
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Gaia space observatory bids farewell after a decade of mapping the stars - PBS NewsHour (Original Post)
Rhiannon12866
Monday
OP
What a wonderful, magnificent tool. Seems like it will take years to decipher all the info..
chouchou
Monday
#1
chouchou
(1,773 posts)1. What a wonderful, magnificent tool. Seems like it will take years to decipher all the info..
I was surprised at the size. Thanks for the post
Rhiannon12866
(232,701 posts)2. I was sure impressed, too - who knows what mysteries we'll learn about? Such groundbreaking information...


Igel
(36,719 posts)3. Told my students recently that Gaia data were on the web.
Downloadable. Analyzable not based on authority but on science/math chops.
https://gea.esac.esa.int/archive/
(We were discussing galaxy evolution in class and how galaxies grew by cannibalism ... So I tangented and talked about the Gaia Sausage.... Perhaps a bit much for HS .. Most didn't get how the x-y graph didn't show location but velocities. Ah, Gaia. Vera Rubin, you're coming along, another all-sky survey.)
Rhiannon12866
(232,701 posts)4. Thanks so much!
Not only important, but positively amazing!