Cosmic dust has been meticulously charted in a three-dimensional map of unprecedented detail by a team of astronomers.

Cosmic dust mapping reaches unprecedented detail, thanks to astronomers' new 3D map

Unveiling the Cosmic Dust Map: Revealing the Hidden Stars of Our Galaxy

The universe, as we know it, is often shrouded in mystery, with stars and other celestial bodies obscured by cosmic dust. A groundbreaking study, published today in Science, has shed new light on this veil of obscurity, offering a three-dimensional map of cosmic dust in our very own Milky Way.

This monumental achievement was made possible by the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, which has been instrumental in uncovering the secrets of the cosmos. The researchers used 130 million spectra from Gaia's extensive data collection to construct this intricate map.

The map not only indicates where the dust most muddies the cosmic waters but also charts regions where the "extinction" of light is less affected by particulate matter. This effect, also known as extinction, is the absorption and scattering of background light by intermediate objects, in this case, dust grains.

One of Gaia's most notable discoveries was the closest-known black hole to Earth, which it spotted in 2022. The mission has also helped researchers identify the heaviest stellar-mass black hole in April 2024.

The 3D map reveals properties of the dust that clouds the cosmos between our world and other objects in the Milky Way. Interestingly, the extinction curve for denser regions of dust is steeper than expected, a finding that may be caused by an abundant form of hydrocarbon in the cosmos.

To generate the spectra for their study, the research team employed a neural network, using the properties of the smaller group of stars and the properties of the dust itself. From the 220 million spectra released by the Gaia mission in June 2022, they selected 130 million stars for their dust search.

The visualization above shows the extinction curve caused by dust around our Sun, extending up to 8,000 light-years in all directions. Red regions indicate areas where the extinction of light is more dependent on the wavelength of the light, while blue regions show less dependence. Grey contouring in the map denotes areas of higher dust density.

After mapping the cosmic dust, Gaia retired in January 2025, leaving behind a wealth of data that will continue to fuel astronomical discoveries for years to come. While the specific research group responsible for creating this 3D map remains unnamed, it's clear that the Thüringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg (TLS) has played a significant role in the project, contributing to the broader understanding of our galaxy and the universe beyond.