The main national and European players involved in Gaia will be in Nice on June 13 to present the mission and content of this new catalog to the international, national and regional press and the general public. The main scientific results, still under embargo to this day, will be unveiled. Unpublished news concerning the different components of the Universe will be presented. We can quote in particular the first chemical cartography of the Milky Way leading to a new understanding of our Galaxy and the properties of the stars which compose it, an unpublished exploration of the interstellar medium and the Galactic disc, an unpublished description of the small bodies of the Solar System, ...
Many interventions are planned for this day as well as a press conference and moments of discussion between the scientists and journalists present. The detailed program of the day will be unveiled in early June. Journalists wishing to participate in this day, and to have an anticipated access to the scientific results which will be revealed at the lifting of the embargo, must imperatively contact the communication service of the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur.
Gaia is a major mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) which was launched in 2013 to map the sky and observe both the very near (Solar System) and very distant Universe (most distant galaxies). More precisely, Gaia maps in 3D our Galaxy, the Milky Way, and reveals its composition, formation and evolution. Gaia thus provides with an unprecedented accuracy the position in the Galaxy of nearly 1.7 billion stars, i.e. nearly 1% of all the stars in the Milky Way. Thanks to the various instruments on board, the kinematics of a very large number of these stars is also determined as well as their physical properties (such as their surface temperature) and their chemical composition. The objectives of this mission are thus multiple and impact almost all the branches of the world astrophysics.
FOLLOW THE EVENT LIVE FROM NICE
On the program for Monday 13 June 2022
8:30 - Reception of the guests in the Great Dome of the Mont-Gros site in Nice
9:00 - Opening of the day, welcome speeches :
Stéphane Mazevet, Director of the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur,
Philippe Baptiste, President of CNES (video message),
Caroline Laurent, Director of Orbital Systems and Applications at CNES,
Anthony Brown, DPAC Chair,
Philippe Stee, Director of the Lagrange laboratory (CNRS-UCA-OCA).
9:20 - Gaia and the French contribution to the Gaia mission
9:30 - François Mignard, Gaia France Scientific Director : The Gaia mission and the French contribution
9:45 - Chantal Panem, Head of Gaia Mission and Operations at CNES : The DR3 and the role of CNES in the French contribution
10:00 - ESA Gaia/DR3 event (in English, simultaneous translation for the audience in Nice)
10:00 - Explanatory video on Gaia
10:01 - Intro by ESA moderator : Ninja Menning.
10:02 - ESA Director General + ESA Director of Science
10:08 - Video : Summary of DR3 outreach material
10:09 - Gaia/DR3 presentations :
Timo Prusti, Gaia Project Scientist, ESA ;
Anthony Brown, DPAC Chair ;
Antonella Vallenari, DPAC Deputy Chair, ;
Conny Aerts, Professor at the University of Leuven.
10:45 - Press conference. Questions and answers.
10:50 - Break
11:00 - Press conference : the main scientific results of the DR3 and their French contribution
11:00 - Paolo Tanga, astronomer at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Lagrange laboratory (CNRS-UCA-OCA), Planetology and Small Bodies of the Solar System
11:08 - Paola Sartoretti, CNRS research engineer at the Observatoire de Paris - PSL (GEPI - Observatoire de Paris-PSL / CNRS), The largest catalog of stellar speeds
11:16 - Frédéric Arenou, CNRS research engineer at the Observatoire de Paris - PSL (GEPI - Observatoire de Paris-PSL / CNRS), Discovering the hidden companions
11:24 - Orlagh Creevey, assistant astronomer at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Lagrange laboratory (CNRS-UCA-OCA), Characterization of stars, dust and extra-galactic objects
11:35 - Alejandra Recio-Blanco, astronomer at the Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Lagrange laboratory (CNRS-UCA-OCA), The Milky Way : cartography and Interstellar Medium
11:48 - Christine Ducourant, assistant astronomer at the Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l’Univers, Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux (CNRS-Université de Bordeaux), Gaia explores the deep Universe
12:00 - Opening of the DR3 archives (ESAC) - ESA event broadcast + CDS/Strasbourg presentation
12:15 - Press conference, questions/answers