In November 2017, scientists led by Davide Massari of the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, Netherlands released a paper describing the characterization of proper motion (3D) within the Sculptor dwarf galaxy, and of that galaxy's trajectory through space and with respect to the Milky Way, using data from "Gaia" and the Hubble Space Telescope. Massari said, “With the precision achieved we can measure the yearly motion of a star on the sky which corresponds to less than the size of a pinhead on the Moon as seen from Earth.” The data showed that Sculptor orbits the Milky Way in a highly elliptical orbit; it is currently near its closest approach at a distance of about , but the orbit can take it out to around distant.