Lennart Lindegren
Professor
The Gaia mission : Science, organization and present status
Author
Summary, in English
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 725 as 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 3301000 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.
Department/s
- Lund Observatory - Has been reorganised
Publishing year
2007-10
Language
English
Pages
217-223
Publication/Series
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Volume
3
Issue
S248
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Topic
- Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Keywords
- Astrometry
- Galaxy: kinematics and dynamics
- Planetary systems
- Relativity
- Space vehicles
- Stars: fundamental parameters
- Techniques: photometric
- Techniques: radial velocities
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1743-9213