Gaia’s star-formation map

On this artist impression of the Milky Way, based on data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia telescope, the location of the new star-formation map is shown.

The star-formation region that is mapped out (contoured by a circle) reaches out to 4000 light-years from our Sun. The Sun is located at the centre of this region.

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[Image description: A model image of what our home galaxy, the Milky Way, might look like face-on: as viewed from above the disc of the galaxy, with its spiral arms and bulge in full view. In the centre of the galaxy, the bulge shines as a hazy oval, emitting a faint golden gleam. Starting at the central bulge, several glistening spiral arms coil outwards. They give the impression of someone having sprinkled pastel purple glitter on the pitch-black background, in the shape of sparkling, curled-up snakes. This image includes a red circle on the bottom part of the galaxy, highlighting a star-formation area seen as reddish clouds.]