ESA’s Gaia Mission Concludes

On 27th March 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) officially shut down the Gaia space observatory, which had been operational for over a decade. The mission played a pivotal role in mapping the Milky Way, revolutionizing our understanding of the galaxy's structure and evolution.

Key Points

Decade-Long Mission: Gaia was launched in December 2013 and began its astronomical observations in July 2014, with operations ceasing on January 15, 2025.
Mapping the Galaxy: The mission aimed to create the most precise 3D map of the Milky Way, tracking the motion and composition of nearly 2 billion stars and celestial objects.
Strategic Positioning: Gaia was stationed at Lagrange Point 2 (L2), approximately 1.5 million km from Earth, allowing it to conduct observations without interference from the planet or the Sun.
Extensive Observations: Over its lifetime, Gaia collected 3 trillion observations, contributing to more than 13,000 scientific research papers.
New Discoveries: Gaia revealed that the Milky Way’s disk is warped and wobbles due to past interactions with smaller galaxies, significantly reshaping our understanding of the galaxy’s history.
Black Hole Detection: The mission discovered a new class of black holes, which are truly dark and can only be detected through their gravitational effects rather than emitted light.
Asteroid Tracking: Gaia identified and projected the orbits of more than 150,000 asteroids, including those that may pose potential threats to Earth.