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The Gaia mission: science, organization and present status

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2007

L. Lindegren ,
C. Babusiaux ,
C. Bailer-Jones ,
U. Bastian ,
A. G. A. Brown ,
M. Cropper ,
E. Høg ,
C. Jordi ,
D. Katz  and
F. van Leeuwen
...Show all authors
L. Lindegren
Affiliation:
Lund Observatory, Lund University, Sweden, email: [email protected]
C. Babusiaux
Affiliation:
Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France email: [email protected], [email protected]
C. Bailer-Jones
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, Heidelberg, Germany, email: [email protected]
U. Bastian
Affiliation:
Astronomische Rechen-Institut, Heidelberg, Germany, email: [email protected]
A. G. A. Brown
Affiliation:
Leiden Observatory, Leiden University, The Netherlands, email: [email protected]
M. Cropper
Affiliation:
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Dorking, United Kingdom, email: [email protected]
E. Høg
Affiliation:
Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark, email: [email protected]
C. Jordi
Affiliation:
University of Barcelona – IEEC, Barcelona, Spain, email: [email protected], [email protected]
D. Katz
Affiliation:
Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France email: [email protected], [email protected]
F. van Leeuwen
Affiliation:
Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, United Kingdom, email: [email protected]
X. Luri
Affiliation:
University of Barcelona – IEEC, Barcelona, Spain, email: [email protected], [email protected]
F. Mignard
Affiliation:
Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur, Nice, France, email: [email protected]
J. H. J. de Bruijne
Affiliation:
ESA, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands email: [email protected], [email protected]
T. Prusti
Affiliation:
ESA, ESTEC, Noordwijk, The Netherlands email: [email protected], [email protected]
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Abstract

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The ESA space astrometry mission Gaia will measure the positions, parallaxes and proper motions of the 1 billion brightest stars on the sky. Expected accuracies are in the 7–25 μas range down to 15 mag and sub-mas accuracies at the faint limit (20 mag). The astrometric data are complemented by low-resolution spectrophotometric data in the 330–1000 nm wavelength range and, for the brighter stars, radial velocity measurements. The scientific case covers an extremely wide range of topics in galactic and stellar astrophysics, solar system and exoplanet science, as well as the establishment of a very accurate, dense and faint optical reference frame. With a planned launch around 2012 and an (extended) operational lifetime of 6 years, final results are expected around 2021. We give a brief overview of the science goals of Gaia, the overall project organisation, expected performance, and some key technical features and challenges.

Keywords

astrometryGalaxy: kinematics and dynamicsplanetary systemsrelativityspace vehiclesstars: fundamental parameterstechniques: photometrictechniques: radial velocities
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 3 , Symposium S248: A Giant Step: from Milli- to Micro-arcsecond Astrometry , October 2007 , pp. 217 - 223
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2008

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