When the last command is sent to the “GAIA” spacecraft on Thursday, this marks the end of an unprecedented scientific odyssey. After a decade of tireless observation, European space emission is literally quiet – but not without having changed science forever.
After more than ten years of the smallest scale, research into our Milky Way so far, the probe, according to a corresponding signal from the European space agency ESA,, secondly, later, is irreparable. If “Gaia” gets her last order, it will be blind, deaf and quiet.
“The whole picture of the Melkweg” re -trawn “
The whole picture of the Melkweg has been pulled again, “says” Gaia “MissieManager Uwe Lammers in Madrid about the importance of the probe. ESA Science Director Carole Munlell recently spoke about a” treasure chest of data “.
Black holes, exoplanets and possible insights into creating our solar system – with three trillion observations, show “gaas” data an image of the milky way that humanity did not know in advance.
Mission continues without “Gaiaas” data
“We create the most precise map of the galaxy ever made,” says Lammers. “In the beginning, for example, the mission was designed to observe a billion stars. In the meantime, it is two and a half billion.” With every data record that you publish, the accuracy is further increased. The following two data records are expected to follow in 2026 and 2030. “Gaia” no longer sends, but the mission is still running.
“Of course we already knew a lot about the Melkweg, but” Gaia “brought the whole thing to a different level and really found so many new things that have never been known before,” says Lammers. So a dwarf system was collided with 5.7 billion years ago.
“And it may even be the case that our solar system has been made. That was previously completely unknown.” The process influenced the strict and perhaps this also created our sun. “This is one of the most spectacular results.”
Our Milky Way is not a disk at all
Before “Gaia” it was thought that the Milky Way was a straight panel, smooth and flat. Now you know it is bent at the ends. “So it looks like bent, bent to the edges. This is not static either, but that is all of many, many millions of years,” Lammers explains. Someone has compared this to a tablecloth that flutters in the wind on the edge – only in cosmic time dimensions.
Many more black holes than assumed
“Gaia” also realized that there are many more black holes than initially assumed. “So we have always known that there is a huge black hole with millions of solar masses in the middle of our Milky Way,” says Lammers.
It is now known of a maximum of 5000 that they exoplanets, ie planets outside our solar system – the following data can reveal more. With the following data record, the number will probably double, says Lammers.
Gas used up, so it’s over now
On “Gaia”, further ESA missions must follow for an accurate view of our Galaxy-De Next Due to the long provisional planning phase, it is probably not before 2045, as Lammers says. “Gaia” costs around a billion euros. Their mission time was initially designed for five years and had more than doubled.
According to the information, the probe is currently 1.5 million kilometers from the earth. “Gaia” still has fuel in the tank, but a gas that is needed before the operation is empty. So is over. “We turn on the drawers again and bring” Gaia “to a sunbathing track,” explains Lammers. In the future, the probe will move in the middle of our solar system.
Source: Krone
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