Gaia for NEOs
Gaia for NEOs
neo admin
Although Gaia's primary mission goal is the precise measurement of star positions and not observing NEOs, nevertheless it is likely to produce a significant contribution to NEO detection. This is due to the peculiar way its on-board telescopes will scan the sky, reaching solar elongations as low as 45 degrees. Yet without a robust ground-based network of follow-up telescopes Gaia's detections would lose much of their value because of the poor quality of the computed orbits. The Gaia working group devoted to moving objects detection, led by the Institut de Méchanique Céleste et de Calcul des Éphémérides (IMCCE) of the Observatory of Paris, is taking up the challenge. After a successful kick-off meetig in 2010 a second workshop is planned in Paris from 19 to 21 September 2012.
http://www.imcce.fr/hosted_sites/gaiafun2012/index.php
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Image: Logo of the Gaia Follow-Up-Network of Solar System Objects