Gaia 'billion-star surveyor' lifts off
Source: BBC
The 740m-euro (£620m) observatory lifted off from the Sinnamary complex in French Guiana at 06:12 local time (09:12 GMT).
Gaia is going to map the precise positions and distances to more than a billion stars.
This should give us the first realistic picture of how our Milky Way galaxy is constructed.
Gaia's remarkable sensitivity will lead also to the detection of many thousands of previously unseen objects, including new planets and asteroids.
The satellite is now travelling out to an observing station some 1.5 million km from the Earth on its nightside - a journey that will take about a month to complete.
Gaia has been in development for more than 20 years.
It will be engaged in what is termed astrometry - the science of mapping the locations and movements of celestial objects.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25426424
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to know how large my neighborhood is and if the neighbors are friendly. Thanks 'Gaia'!
