Gaia’s mission: solving the celestial puzzle

A space mission to create the largest, most-accurate, map of the Milky Way in three dimensions has been launched today. Astronomers say the data gathered by the satellite will "revolutionise" our understanding of the galaxy and the universe beyond. We will go beyond what we can see to understand reality. We are going to discover completely new things, things we would think are impossible - Gerry Gilmore Gazing into the sky on a starry night, don't be deceived by the apparent peace and tranquillity above you. The celestial ballet of stars that dance and flicker gently to the human eye  are raging and burning in the near vacuum of space, living and dying with a beauty, ferocity and magnificence that is almost impossible to comprehend. The Milky Way, home to planet Earth as it sweeps around the Sun at 67,000mph, is so vast it defies normal explanation. We know how many stars there are - more than 100 billion - because we can count them in the sky.