Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2025 May 13
Illustration Credit: ESA, Gaia, DPAC, Stefan Payne-Wardenaar
Explanation: What does our Milky Way Galaxy look like from the top? Because we are on the inside, humanity can't get an actual picture. Recently, however, just such a map has been made using location data for over a billion stars from ESA's Gaia mission. The resulting featured illustration shows that just like many other spiral galaxies, our Milky Way has distinct spiral arms. Our Sun and most of the bright stars we see at night are in just one arm: Orion. Gaia data bolsters previous indications that our Milky Way has more than two spiral arms. Our Galaxy's center sports a prominent bar. The colors of our Galaxy's thin disk derive mostly from dark dust, bright blue stars, and red emission nebula. Although data analysis is ongoing, Gaia was deactivated in March after a succession mission.
Tomorrow's picture: big space egg
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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& Michigan Tech. U.
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