Team member Timo Prusti said this demonstrates that "it is possible to handle the analysis of a billion stars." Since they only used preliminary data to make this map, though, it only indicates the distances and movements of around two million stars. They got those numbers by combining information Gaia sent back with data gathered by the ESA's Hipparcos satellite, which operated from 1989 to 1993. The team plans to release a second map in late 2017 showing the positions, distances and motions of all 1.1 billion.

Gaia will set its sights on remote galaxies, planets and even asteroids in the future. Hey, its camera is powerful enough to see an object on the moon that's the size of a human nail from way back on Earth. Might as well use it to the fullest. However, even its impressive camera can't detect some celestial bodies. Science says astronomers want to develop and deploy an infrared version of Gaia that can detect even faint dwarf stars and see through dust clouds.