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   CHRS: LATIN-1 2   
                           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.   
      
                                   2024 August 4   
      
                             Gaia: Here Comes the Sun   
             Credit: Galaxy Illustration: N. Risinger (skysurvey.org);   
         Star Data: Gaia Mission, ESA, A. S. Sell+¬s (U. Heidelberg) et al.   
      
      Explanation: What would it look like to return home from outside our   
      galaxy? Although designed to answer greater questions, data from ESA's   
      robotic Gaia mission is helping to provide a uniquely modern   
      perspective on humanity's place in the universe. Gaia orbits the Sun   
      near the Earth and resolves stars' positions so precisely that it can   
      determine a slight shift from its changing vantage point over the   
      course of a year, a shift that is proportionately smaller for more   
      distant stars -- and so determines distance. In the first sequence of   
      the video, an illustration of the Milky Way is shown that soon resolves   
      into a three-dimensional visualization of Gaia star data. A few notable   
      stars are labelled with their common names, while others stars are   
      labelled with numbers from a Gaia catalog. Eventually, the viewer   
      arrives in our stellar neighborhood where many stars were tracked by   
      Gaia, and soon at our home star Sol, the Sun. At the video's end, the   
      reflective glow of Sol's third planet becomes visible: Earth.   
      
                          Tomorrow's picture: open space   
        __________________________________________________________________   
      
          Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)   
               NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.   
                     NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;   
                         A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,   
                              NASA Science Activation   
                                & Michigan Tech. U.   
      
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