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10th anniversary of Gaia satellite launch

19 December 2023

On December 19, 2013, the Gaia satellite lifted off from the Kourou space center in French Guiana.

<multi>[fr]Lancement du Satellite Gaia depuis une fusée Soyouz-STB/Fregat-MT depuis le Centre Spatial Guyanais à Kourou[en]Gaia satellite launched by a Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT rocket froacm the Guiana Space Center in Kourou.</multi>
Gaia satellite launched by a Soyuz-STB/Fregat-MT rocket from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou.
© ESA

Ten years on, more than 10,000 articles using Gaia data have been published (more than the Hubble Space Telescope!).

Teams from Observatoire de Paris - PSL have decided to celebrate this anniversary by looking back at a dozen outstanding scientific results obtained thanks to Gaia data.

Here they are, presented in 4 chapters:

  1. The eventful history of the Milky Way
  2. Astrometry, cartography and distance scales in the Universe
  3. Singular and multiple stars
  4. The Solar System
Who’s involved at Paris Observatory?

Since 1998, Paris Observatory has been making an essential contribution to the Gaia mission, with a directly interested community of over 50 people, within four of its departments:

  • The Galaxies, Stars, Physics and Instrumentation Laboratory - GEPI,
  • Institut de mécanique céleste et de calculs des éphémérides - IMCCE
  • Time-Space Reference System Department - SYRTE
  • The Laboratory for Space Studies and Astrophysical Instrumentation - LESIA

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