There are as many Gayatris as can be as it is only a metre in which it is set, but there 24 accepted principle Gayatris given by various rishis.
In the Bhagavad Gita, in Chapter 10, Verse 35, Krishna describes to Arjun, that among all the hymns He is thosr hymns in the Sama Veda and amongst poetic metres He is the Gayatri Chhanda.......such is the importance to the Gayatri
This Surya Gayatri is by rishi Vishwamitra in his composition of the Rig: in Mandala 3 hymn 62 verse10
Gayatri metre is named after Goddess Gayatri, one of the principle forms of Adi Shakti in her initial & main forms of devolution.
Devi Puran or the Brahmanda Puran which is followed by the Shakti agama describes her prinicple five forms of creation as Maha Lakshmi (Rajas), Maha Saraswati (Satwa), Maha Kali (Tamas) as the consorts and Shaktis or powers of Vishnu, Brahma and Shiva in the three gunas besides Gaytri and Ganga.
In some scriptures Gayatri or Ganga are replaced by Radha as one of the principle forms of Devi, depending on the agama (school) of following.
It is thus that Gayatri is considered the mother of all music or the aupreme Chhanda (Metre) as Gayatri Chhanda
The 7 metres in sanskrity prosody in which all main mantras & stotras are set are:
1. Gayatri
2. Ushnih
3. Anushtubh
4. Brihati
5. Pankti
6. Trishtubh &
7. Jagati
beyond the 7 also there are other metres by various paramacharyas & gurus in later eras
And, Chhandas (metres) is given great vedic importance and forms one of the 6 Vadangas or limbs of Veda
If you notice all mantras and stotras begin with 5 elwments or its pillars on which the mantra or stotra is built further. They are:
1. Rishi nyas (nyas is vidhi or practice) honouring the Rishi who gave it 2. Chhanda (metre of rendering) 3. Devata (the deity for whom it is rendered) 4. Beeja (seed mantra or syllable) 5. Keelakam (the protection or shakti on which it stands)
The 6th element of such redering is Anga nyas (or the body shuddhi / cleansing or the pancha tatwa upachar)
Maximum od our mantras & stotras are set in three main metres:
Gayatri
Anushtubh
Trishtubh
The universally recited Vishnu Sahasranamam is set in Anushtubh Chhanda and dedicated to Bhishma who revealed it to Yudhishtir at the end of the Mahabharata when he teaches him the virtues of being an emperor
Similarly, the Aditya Hridayam.....is set in Anushtup Chhanda and the dedication is to Rishi Agastya who gave to Sri Rama lifiting his spirits in the midst of his bsttle with Ravana.
Interestingly, both Vishnu Sahasranamam and the Aditya Hridayam are given in the battle fields...and contained in the Yuddh Kaandam of Mahabharat and Ramayan
Perhaps, something deeper to understand with settings in battle zone in the midst of killings & death to keep the basic Dharma (that of righteous rulership)
these 5, rather 6, steps are followed by a Dhyana sloka of a verse(s) and then the main mantra / sloka and it ends with Phalashruti and a Kshama prartana (in voluminous rendering like Durga Saptashati etc)
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