Looking at this image, it seems as if the kitten with a white nose stretched its paws and tail. However, before you amazing cosmic phenomenon - a dark nebula in the constellation of Orion. Nearby is the M42 nebula. The image is derived from the first release of the Gaia satellite data.
This nebula cannot be seen with the naked eye, but similar clouds can be seen against the bright background of the Milky Way from dark places in the southern hemisphere. The Gaia satellite was created in 2013, and it catches a billion stars with unprecedented accuracy.
Even in dark spots where there are fewer stars, Gaia manages to obtain important data for studying interstellar material blocking starlight. It is in such dark clouds of gas and dust that new stellar generations appear. The first issue of Gaia information was published in 2016. The data contained information on more than a billion stars, and also indicated distances and movements of approximately 2 million stellar objects. Now scientists from around the world are waiting for the next release, scheduled for April 25th.
Until now, the data have been used only to study the nearest areas of stellar birth at a distance of several hundred light years from us. New information will increase the distance and touch, for example, the territory of Orion, distant by 1500 light years.
