ESA’s Gaia Mission, Scientific Instruments and Major Discoveries

Context: The European Space Agency (ESA) has officially shut down its space observatory mission, Gaia, on March 27, 2025.

About Gaia Mission

• Its original name was Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics (GAIA), it was later renamed Gaia Mission.
• Primary objective: Astrometry—precisely mapping celestial bodies by determining their locations and movements in space.
• Orbital Position: Placed at Lagrange Point 2 (L2), 5 million km behind Earth (relative to the Sun), allowing unobstructed views of space.

Scientific Instruments

• Astrometer – Measures the precise location of stars.
• Photometer – Measures the brightness and colour of celestial objects.
• Spectrometer – Analyzes the chemical composition of stars and objects.

Major Discoveries and Contributions

Mapping the Milky Way

• Created the most detailed 3D map of the galaxy.
• Helped scientists understand the structure of the Milky Way—showing its central bar, spiral arms and warped, wobbly disc.

Discovery of New Black Holes

• Identified a new type of black hole, including one close to Earth.
• Unlike earlier detections based on emitted light, Gaia found “truly black” black holes by observing their gravitational effects.

Asteroid Tracking and Threat Assessment

• Identified over 150,000 asteroids and predicted their future orbits, including some that may pose a threat to Earth.

Sharing is caring!