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The most accurate 3-D map of our Milky Way galaxy has been revealed by astronomers.
The 3-D map of the Milky Way was created using data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft which has been scanning stars since 2013.
The hope is that the map sheds new light on the functioning of the galaxy we call home.
It allows astronomers to measure acceleration and hopefully find out how much the universe has expanded since the dawn of time.
There are 1.8 billion stars on the map.
ESA has unveiled the map and uploaded a fascinating YouTube video of how the stars move in the Milky Way.
ESA said: “The new data from Gaia allowed astronomers to track the various populations of older and younger stars towards the edge of our galaxy – the galactic anticenter.
“Computer models predicted that the Milky Way disk will get bigger over time with the birth of new stars.
“The new data allows us to see the relics of the ancient 10-billion-year disc and thus determine the smaller extent of the Milky Way disc’s current size.”
The new 3D map was revealed just as another group of researchers claimed that Earth is closer to the black hole at the center of our galaxy than previously thought.
The Milky Way has a huge black hole in the center called Sagittarius A *.
Astronomers from the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan used their data collected over 15 years to create another map of the Milky Way.
They estimated the position of the Earth relative to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way.
In 1985, Earth was thought to be 27,700 light-years away from Sagittarius A *.
The new map places it 25,800 light years away.
Scientists think the Earth would be destroyed inside a black hole, but there’s no need to panic yet.
25,800 light-years away is a huge distance, so Earth will nowhere be near Sagittarius A * for a long time.
A light year runs at about six trillion miles.
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