The most accurate 3-D map of our galaxy has come out by astronomers.
The 3-D galaxy map was created using data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia Space Probe, which has been scanning stars since 2013.
The hope is that the map will shed new light on the work of the galaxy we call home.
It allows astronomers to measure acceleration and hopefully how much the universe has expanded over time.
There are an impressive 1.8 billion stars on the map.
ESA unveiled the map and uploaded a mesmerizing YouTube video of how the stars move in the galaxy.
The ESA said: “New Gaia data has allowed astronomers to trace different populations of older and younger stars to the very edge of our galaxy – the galactic anticenter.
“Computer models Dello predicted that the disk of the galaxy would grow larger over time as new stars were born.
“The new data allows us to see the remains of a 10 billion year old disk and therefore determine its small size compared to the current disk size of the galaxy.”
The new 3D map came out just as another group of researchers claimed that the Earth is closer to a black hole in the center of our galaxy than previously thought.
The Milky Way galaxy has a huge black hole in its center called Sagittarius A *.
Astronomers at Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory have created another galaxy map using their own data collected over 15 years.
They estimated the position of the Earth compared to a black hole in the center of the galaxy.
In 1985, Earth was thought to be 27,700 light years away from Sagittarius A *.
The new map puts it 25,800 light-years away.
Scientists believe that the Earth will be pulled inside the black hole, but there is no need to panic yet.
25,800 light-years away is a big distance so Earth will no longer be anywhere near Sagittarius A *.
One light year travels about six trillion miles.
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