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Gaia Reconstructs a Side View of our Galaxy
* Illustration Credit: ESA, Gaia, DPAC, Stefan Payne-Wardenaar
https://bsky.app/profile/stefanpw.bsky.social
https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Gaia
https://www.esa.int/
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/

Explanation:
What does our Milky Way Galaxy look like from the side? Because we are on the inside, humanity can’t get an actual picture. Recently, however, just such a map has been made using location data for over a billion stars from ESA’s Gaia mission. The resulting featured illustration shows that just like many other spiral galaxies, our Milky Way has a very thin central disk. Our Sun and all the stars we see at night are in this disk. Although hypothesized before, perhaps more surprising is that the disk appears curved at the outer edges. The colors of our Galaxy's warped central band derive mostly from dark dust, bright blue stars, and red emission nebulas. Although data analysis …

2025 May 12 A dark field of space surrounds a thin but colorful band horizontally across the center. The band is nearly straight but curves at its outer edges. Please see the explanation for more detailed information. Gaia Reconstructs a Side View of our Galaxy * Illustration Credit: ESA, Gaia, DPAC, Stefan Payne-Wardenaar Explanation: What does our Milky Way Galaxy look like from the side? Because we are on the inside, humanity can’t get an actual picture. Recently, however, just such a map has been made using location data for over a billion stars from ESA’s Gaia mission. The resulting featured illustration shows that just like many other spiral galaxies, our Milky Way has a very thin central disk. Our Sun and all the stars we see at night are in this disk. Although hypothesized before, perhaps more surprising is that the disk appears curved at the outer edges. The colors of our Galaxy's warped central band derive mostly from dark dust, bright blue stars, and red emission nebulas. Although data analysis is ongoing, Gaia was deactivated in March after a successful mission. 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.

"insect populations had declined by 75% in less than three decades."

“Conservation actions overly biased towards certain insects or certain stressors will likely be negative for many other insects.”
“If we focus too much on bees and butterflies and their conservation, we will miss a lot of other species, most of them in fact.”

https://www.binghamton.edu/news/story/5513/insects-are-disappearing-due-to-agriculture-and-many-other-drivers-new-research-reveals