Today is announced the latest mapping of (much of) our Galaxy. Consider it IntCal20 In Spaaace.
We need these maps, not least, because of parallax - distance. A bright object only looks bright to our eyes. To understand how bright it really is (rather, was) we must know how far it was. So Gemini North on CK Vulpeculae, now classed as neutronstar kilonova.
Based on what I see at Science Daily, several institutions are independently posting their own takes. The Royal Astronomical Society plays it straight. Helsinki goes all Finn Pride, touting how it verifies local boy Friedrich Wilhelm August Argelander.
This was made possible by the Gaia satellite. It orbits Libration 2, Sun-Earth edition. I told you it mattered! I don't know if the Sun is wholly occulted from that standpoint; the sun should be smaller but the distance greater. I also imagine that the orbit has to be delicately chosen so that our Moon doesn't knock it off its metastability. 'Tis possible that they found a resonance - say, three librations every two months, those months being synodic so familiar.
These data should, I hope, be reconciled with the Japanese archipelago's ground-based survey VERA.
Gaia is not over; they're keeping Gaia running until 2022 possibly extending to 2025.
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