The European Space Agency's Gaia spacecraft has sent back to Earth rare images of the Milky Way.

Photograph of the Milky Way from the Gaia ship images 1
Gaia is recording data to create a 3D map of the Milky Way in the future.

Photograph of the Milky Way from the Gaia ship images 2
A map of locations, shapes and stars, constellations exist in the Milky Way galaxy set up by Gaia scientists.

Photograph of the Milky Way from the Gaia ship images 3
This is the orbital model of the Gaia spacecraft when it makes its journey to discover the Milky Way, which comes from Earth.

Photograph of the Milky Way from the Gaia ship images 4
Close-up image of young star cluster NGC1818 in the Magellanic cloud adjacent to the Milky Way.

Photograph of the Milky Way from the Gaia ship images 5
This is one of the rare photos of the Gaia spacecraft three years ago, after the device was being tested in a closed, clean room.