DELL'ORO , A.

According to current plans of ESA, Gaia will be launched in 2011. With a systematic survey of the whole sky down to magnitude V = 20, Gaia will provide a fundamental contribution in practically all fields of modern Astrophysics. In particular, Gaia will be also a major milestone in the history of asteroid science. Based on its unprecedented...

Advances in Space Research, 40, pp. 202-208, http://dx.doi.org./10.1016/j.asr..03.011

Astronomy and Astrophysics, 506, pp. 935-954 (2009)

Advances in Space Research, 38, pp. 2000-2005, http://dx.doi.org./10.1016/j.asr..01.007

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...

Earth Moon and Planets, 101, pp. 97-125, http://dx.doi.org./10.1007/s11038-007-9221-z

Detailed investigations of the capabilities of the Gaia mission have revealed its strong potential for the exploration of scientific issues related to Solar System. This satellite will be placed in the Earth L2 and is expected to provide ˜ 70 observations (composed of ultra-precise astrometric measurements and magnitudes) of all the celestial...

Gaia will collect asteroid observations over 5 years, with a limiting magnitude V~20 (>300,000 objects). Observations will include very precise astrometry and photometry, and low resolution spectra. Over the last few years, the Coordination Unit 4 of Gaia's Data Processing and Analysis Consortium has built the data reduction pipeline that will...