Wow – didn’t think I’d be in tears today, but this message sent home from Gaia as it was shut down forever today hits hard 😭
What you’re seeing is a map of the 106 CCD detectors that Gaia used to measure the positions of billions of stars in the Milky Way for the past 11 years 🛰️✨
They were turned off in a special sequence … 😕
@markmccaughrean It's hard to see something so important, so impactful, just be turned off. That said, it's done truly amazing work, and everyone involved should be deeply proud of what's been accomplished.
There's so much we have yet to learn, and projects like this really give hope that humanity can learn more, be better, grow, even in crazy times.
Mark McCaughrean
Adam Caudill