Launched in December 2013, Gaia is destined to create the most accurate map yet of the Milky Way.

By making accurate measurements of the positions and motions of roughly 1% of the total population of stars in the Milky Way, it will answer questions about the origin and evolution of our home galaxy.

The first intermediate data release, containing, among other things, three-dimensional positions and two dimensional motions of a subset of two million stars, demonstrates that Gaia’s measurements are as precise as planned, paving the way to create the full map of one billion stars to be released towards the end of 2017.

The video shows new images of the Milky Way and includes interviews with Fred Jansen, ESA Gaia Mission Manager, and Timo Prusti, ESA Gaia Project Scientist.