Gaia and Asteroids

ESA’s Gaia mission was launched in 2013 to construct a three-dimensional map of our galaxy.

Here at NEOROCKS we are interested, because Gaia can also be useful when it comes to asteroids!

While scanning the sky and mapping the stars, Gaia might spot moving targets. Some of these will be bodies that have already been detected previously. Others could be a new asteroid detection. If GAIA picks them up, expert from the astronomy community (like the Neorockers!) can follow up.

…and that’s not all what Gaia can help with. The more accurate the measurement of the position of the background stars, the better researchers can determine the orbit of an asteroid moving in front of them.

Check out the full article below for more information. You’ll find an interview with a member of the NEOROCKS Advisory Panel, Marco Micheli from ESA NEOCC, explaining it all in detail.

Gaia revolutionises asteroid tracking