Gaia in the UK

Taking the Galactic Census

Charting the Galaxy - from Hipparcos to Gaia

Charting the Galaxy - from Hipparcos to Gaia

Episode 6 in Science@ESA vodcast series.

Rebecca Barnes explains how astronomers measure positions and motions of the stars. Using  Hipparcos data as an example Rebecca shows how vital astrometric data is for our understanding of fundamental science in the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology and fundamental physics (for example, Solar System studies, detection of exoplanets, stellar structure and evolution, evolution and structure of our Galaxy, distribution of dark matter, testing general relativity theory, timekeeping, development of celestial reference frame) . The video introduces Gaia mission and its scientific goals, explains how Gaia will carry out measurements, and looks at the handling of the vast amount of data gathered by the satellite.

Download the script of the vodcast. Download "Episode 6: Charting the Galaxy - from Hipparcos to Gaia" from ESA's website.

(Courtesy of ESA)

Page last updated: 02 June 2014