ESA is About to Release its Third Giant Data Release From Gaia

Astrometry is a branch of astronomy where the velocities and motions of objects are measured to learn more about the formation and evolution of the universe. This space-based has been studying the universe for the past eight and a half years. This includes planets, comets, asteroids, and distant galaxies. This information will be used to create the most detailed 3D catalog of the universe.

The first and second catalogs have been released, along with a smaller data set called Early Data Release 3. The third full catalog will be released on June 13th and contains new and improved details for the two billion objects it has been observing. The release will coincide with a virtual press event hosted by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium, where featured speakers will discuss the significance of this latest release and how it changes our understanding of the galaxy.

Scientists and software developers from all over the world are part of the Gaia DPAC. The Consortium is responsible for analyzing the data and producing the catalogues. There will be a press event on Tuesday, June 12th. There will be a panel of speakers.

• Josef Aschbacher – ESA Director General
• Günther Hasinger – ESA Director of Science
• Timo Prusti – Gaia Project Scientist
• Anthony Brown – Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium Chair
• Antonella Vallenari – Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium Chair Deputy Chair
• Conny Aerts – Professor at Leuven University and member of the Gaia Collaboration

English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, and Italian are some of the languages that the DPAC has organized events in. Media representatives are encouraged to download the Gaia DR3 Kit Media in order to watch the event live. You can find a full overview of the events here.

The data set collected from July 25th, 2014, to May 28th, 2017, contains improved information on the many stars Gaia observed during its mission, most of which consisted of newly-released spectroscopy that revealed the chemical composition, temperature, color, mass, and age of these stars. The measurement for 33 million stars was five times larger than DR2. There are thousands of Solar System objects, as well as millions of galaxies and quasars outside the Milky Way, in this dataset.

The space between stars is mostly made up of dust and gas. Astronomers can learn more about stellar motion, star formation, and how our universe evolved by mapping this. The All-sky Dust Map is based on the proper motion and velocities of 470 million stars. Several record-breaking features are contained in the DR3 These are included.

• The largest-ever low-resolution spectroscopy survey
• The largest-ever radial velocity survey
• The largest-ever collection of astrophysical data for stars in the Milky Way For many classes of variable stars: largest survey ever
• The most comprehensive binary star survey in the past two centuries
• The highest-accuracy survey of asteroids that contains data on their compositions and orbits
• The first space-based all-sky survey of quasars and galaxies in the Local Universe
• A photometric survey of the Andromeda Galaxy

Nine of the 50 papers pending are dedicated to showing the great potential of this latest data release. Astronomers expect that the new data will allow them to reconstruct the past and future of the universe. The data will help us understand the life cycle of stars and the Solar System. The purpose of the observatory has always been to answer the deeper questions of existence.

Further reading is done by the European Space Agency.