Gaia’s star-formation map (zoom-in)

Scientists created the most accurate 3D map of star-formation regions in our Milky Way galaxy, based on data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia space telescope.

On the image on the right (the overlay), the star-formation map is made even more prominent, shown as reddish clouds. 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. Click here for the full view. 

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[Image description slider: A side-by-side comparison slider of two images showing a star-filled region in our galaxy featuring glowing red nebulas. In the right image these nebulas are highlighted even more prominently within a faint circular outline – showing areas of ionised hydrogen gas and active star formation against a dark backdrop of space.]