Goodbye, Gaia!
The European Space Agency (ESA) has turned off the Gaia spacecraft after it spent 11 years in space. Gaia had very little fuel left and made its last observation on January 15, 2025.
Gaia was sent into space in 2013 to make a 3D map of our galaxy, the Milky Way. It had two telescopes to help it study the stars.
The spacecraft stayed at a special spot in space called Lagrange Point 2 (L2). Now that Gaia has finished its job, it will move away from L2 and go around the Sun instead. This will keep it far from Earth for at least 100 years so that it does not cause problems for other space missions.
What is L2?
Lagrange Point 2 (L2) is a place in space where the gravity of the Earth and the Sun help keep a spacecraft stable. It is 1.5 million kilometres from Earth.
L2 is a good place for space telescopes because they can easily communicate with Earth and look at the stars without the Sun’s light blocking their view. Since they have their backs to the Sun here, they can also use solar power and stay safe from too much radiation.
Other space missions at L2 include NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, China’s Chang’e 6 orbiter, and ESA’s Euclid mission.
Gaia’s important discoveries
Gaia studied about two billion stars in the Milky Way. It helped scientists learn that our galaxy has a barred spiral shape. This means there is a long bar of stars, gas, and dust in the centre of it.
Gaia also showed that the Milky Way has joined with other galaxies many times in the past. It even helped scientists learn that our galaxy started forming less than a billion years after the Big Bang (which took place 13.8 billion years ago).
Even though Gaia has stopped working, scientists will study its data for 10 more years. Thanks to Gaia, we now know a lot more about our galaxy!
