Gaia satellite launched to map a billion stars

Scientists say that the “billion star surveyor” will give the most detailed picture of our Milky Way so far. But it is also expected to reveal previously unknown objects, including exploding stars, planets orbiting other suns, and nearby asteroids.

It is also hoped that Gaia will yield some clues about mysterious dark matter and dark energy.

The most sophisticated space telescope ever made was launched onboard a Soyuz rocket, from the European Space Agency’s base in Kourou, French Guinea.

The billion stars it will map is only 1 per cent of the Milky Way, but it is still far more comprehensive than previous missions, and will help calculate the movement, distance and speed of stars to build up a 3D map.

Gaia will be situated in the perfect place to observe the universe, where the earth will shield it from the sun. As it spins slowly, two telescopes will sweep across the entire sky and simultaneously focus their light on the largest digital camera ever put into space.

Confirmation: #Gaia critical sunshield deployed. Began at 1hr:17min into flight lasting 10 mins. Here’s how it looked http://t.co/TDzy88uklJ

— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) December 19, 2013

The data beamed back to earth – enough to fill more than 30,000 CD ROMs – will then be sifted through by scientists on the ground at a state-of-the-art processing centre at Cambridge. And astronomers are hugely excited about getting their hands on what the satellite can find.

“Gaia is one of the most exciting space missions I have worked on during my career,” said mission scientist Professor Martin Barstow, from the University of Leicester.

“Its survey of the Galaxy will be in unprecedented detail and the precision of the distance measurements it makes will transform astronomy and our understanding of the universe.”

In short, Gaia will be able to conduct the “biggest cosmic consensus yet“, said the ESA, who see the telescope as a continuation of the centuries old “noble European legacy of star charting”.