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This is a new artist\u2019s impression of our galaxy, the Milky Way, based on data from ESA\u2019s Gaia space telescope.<\/p>\n
Gaia has changed our impression of the Milky Way. Even seemingly simple\u00a0ideas about the nature of our galaxy\u2019s central bar and the spiral arms have been overturned. Gaia has shown us that it\u00a0has more than two spiral arms and that they are less prominent than we\u00a0previously thought. In addition, Gaia has shown that its central bar is more inclined with\u00a0respect to the Sun.<\/p>\n
No spacecraft can travel beyond our galaxy, so we can\u2019t take a selfie, but Gaia is giving us the best insight yet of what our home galaxy looks like. Once all of Gaia\u2019s observations collected over the past decade are made available in two upcoming data releases, we can expect an even sharper view of the Milky Way.<\/p>\n
\nClick here to see an animated version of this artist’s impression.
Click here to download the face-on artist’s impression of the Milky Way.<\/p>\n
[Image Description: A model image of what our home galaxy, the Milky Way, might look like edge-on, against a pitch-black backdrop. The Milky Way\u2019s disc appears in the centre of the image, as a thin, dark-brown line spanning from left to right, with the hint of a wave in it. The line appears to be etched into a thin glowing layer of silver sand, that makes it look as if it was drawn with a coloured pencil on coarse paper. The bulge of the galaxy sits like a glowing, see-through pearl in the shape of a sphere in the centre of this brown line.]<\/i><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n