Uploaded April 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Animated view of the sky in the northern hemisphere on 25 April 2018.
After a few seconds, the stars start moving in the sky according to parallax, an apparent shift caused by Earth's yearly motion around the Sun. Then, constellation outlines appear as visual aids. Finally, stars start moving according to their true motion through space, which is visible on the sky as proper motion.
Parallaxes have been exaggerated by 100 000 and proper motions have been speeded up by one trillion (10^12) to make them visible in this animation.
This animation is based on data from the second data release of ESA's Gaia satellite, which has measured the positions, parallaxes and motions of more than one billion stars across the sky to unprecedented accuracy.
Watch a 360° version here: youtu.be/bZfFdCknTQc
Full story: http://sci.esa.int/gaia/60192-gaia-creates-richest-star-map-of-our-galaxy-and-beyond/
More information about this video and download options can be found at http://sci.esa.int/gaia/60233-parallax-and-proper-motion-on-the-sky/
Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo
Acknowledgement: Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC); Gaia Sky (zah.uni-heidelberg.de/institutes/ari/gaia/outreach/gaiasky/) ; S. Jordan / T. Sagristà, Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Germany
Animated view of the sky in the northern hemisphere on 25 April 2018.
After a few seconds, the stars start moving in the sky according to parallax, an apparent shift caused by Earth's yearly motion around the Sun. Then, constellation outlines appear as visual aids. Finally, stars start moving according to their true motion through space, which is visible on the sky as proper motion.
Parallaxes have been exaggerated by 100 000 and proper motions have been speeded up by one trillion (10^12) to make them visible in this animation.
This animation is based on data from the second data release of ESA's Gaia satellite, which has measured the positions, parallaxes and motions of more than one billion stars across the sky to unprecedented accuracy.
Watch a 360° version here: youtu.be/bZfFdCknTQc
Full story: http://sci.esa.int/gaia/60192-gaia-creates-richest-star-map-of-our-galaxy-and-beyond/
More information about this video and download options can be found at http://sci.esa.int/gaia/60233-parallax-and-proper-motion-on-the-sky/
Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo
Acknowledgement: Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC); Gaia Sky (zah.uni-heidelberg.de/institutes/ari/gaia/outreach/gaiasky/) ; S. Jordan / T. Sagristà, Astronomisches Rechen-Institut, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Germany
