To do this, comparisons with the results from previous astrometric catalogues have also been performed.Īrtist's impression of Hipparcos. The principal check involved verifying that the stellar parameters derived from Gaia data are scientifically robust and that all effects related to the satellite and instruments are correctly taken into account. Gaia has already fundamentally contributed to astronomy,' says Timo Prusti, Gaia Project Scientist. 'There are more than 300 refereed papers from the first data release.

It demonstrated the high quality of the scientific data derived from the raw satellite observations by allowing astronomers to publish many new scientific results. The 2016 release was a 'test package' designed to allow astronomers to verify that the observing strategy and the data processing 'pipeline' are working well. Gaia's mission is to create the most accurate map of the Galaxy to date. It included the position and brightness for 1.1 billion stars, and distances and motions for two million of those stars.

Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC.īased on 14 months of observations, the initial release was published on 14 September 2016.

Gaia project galaxy