CELLINO , Alberto

The determination of bulk physical properties for the largest possible number of asteroids which will be observed by Gaia is an important task which can be made easier by performing some dedicated groundbased observing campaigns. The proposed actions, consisting of applications of different observing techniques, primarily photometry and...

The Gaia space mission to be operated in early 2012 by the European Space Agency (ESA), will make a huge step in our knowledge of the Sun's neighbor-hood, up to the Magellanic clouds. Somewhat closer, Gaia will also provide ma jor improvements in the science of asteroids, and more generally to our Solar System, either directly or indirectly....

Several lines of evidences suggest that, after the breakup following a catastrophic disruption, the fragments can form asteroids that are kept together only by gravity. The details of the gravitational reaccumulation process are however poorly known. In particular, the angular momentum transported by the fragments could directly influence the...

In 2021, the Gaia mission will release its third data set of measurements including for the first time thousands of reflectance spectra of asteroids. For the final release of Gaia, this number is expected to increase to 100 000. The reflectance spectra are derived from spectro-photometric detectors covering wavelengths from blue to red (from...

Apart from producing a huge improvement in the determination of asteroid orbits, Gaia is also expected to trigger a revolution in the field of the determination of asteroid physical properties. This includes the determination of accurate values of the mass and bulk density for about 100 of the largest objects in the main belt; the determination...