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Microarcsec Astrometry: The Gaia Mission

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 August 2015

L. Lindegren  and
M.A.C. Perryman
L. Lindegren
Affiliation:
Lund Observatory Box 43, SE-22100 Lund, Sweden
M.A.C. Perryman
Affiliation:
Astrophysics Division, ESTEC 2200AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands

Extract

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The Hipparcos mission demonstrated the efficiency of space astrometry (in terms of number of objects, accuracy, and uniformity of results) and the fact that a relatively small instrument can have a very large scientific potential in the area of astrometry. However, Hipparcos could probe less than 0.1 per cent of the volume of the Galaxy by direct distance measurements. Using a larger instrument and more efficient detectors, it is now technically feasible to increase the efficiency of a space astrometry mission by several orders of magnitude, thus encompassing a large part of the Galaxy within its horizon for accurate determination of parallaxes and transverse velocities. Such a mission will have immediate and profound impact in the areas of the physics and evolution of individual stars and of the Galaxy as a whole.

Type
II. Joint Discussions
Information
Highlights of Astronomy , Volume 11 , Issue 1: Highlights of Astronomy. As presented at the XXIIIrd General Assembly of the IAU (Part A), 1997 , 1998 , pp. 581 - 582
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1998

References

Lindegren, L. and Perryman, M.A.C. (1997) GAIA: Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics, Proc. HIPPARCOS Venice ’97, ESA SP-402, pp. 799–802 Google Scholar
Perryman, M.A.C., Lindegren, L. and Turon, C. (1997) The Scientific Goals of the GAIA Mission, Proc. HIPPARCOS Venice ’97, ESA SP-402, pp. 743–748 Google Scholar