Potential asteroid discoveries by the ESA Gaia mission

Planetary and Space Science, 2016

The Gaia mission started its regular observing program in the summer of 2014, and since then it is regularly obtaining observations of asteroids. This paper draws the outline of the data processing for Solar System objects, and in particular on the daily "short-term" processing, from the on-board data acquisition to the ground-based processing. We illustrate the tools developed to compute predictions of asteroid observations, we discuss the procedures implemented by the daily processing, and we illustrate some tests and validations of the processing of the asteroid observations. Our findings

Planetary and Space Science, 2008

The mission Gaia by European Space Agency (ESA) is expected to fly at the end of 2011 and to perform an all-sky, magnitude-limited survey for 5 years. The probe will not use an input catalogue, and will get high accuracy astrometry and photometry for all sources of magnitude V o20. Low-resolution spectra will also be available. Moving Solar System objects will be observed as well, and their observations will be processed by a specific pipeline in order to retrieve the physical and dynamical characteristics of each object. In this contribution we will mainly focus on the impact of Gaia observations on asteroid dynamics. A dramatic improvement of orbital elements is expected, as well as the measurement of subtle effects such as those related to general relativity (GR). Gaia observations will also be supported by a network of ground-based observation sites, capable of providing follow-up for newly discovered objects that will not receive an adequate coverage from space. Specific strategies for follow-up are being planned and tested. These will need to take into account the peculiar observing geometry (large parallax effect due to the orbit of Gaia around L2) and the time constraints dictated by data processing. r

Planetary and Space Science

In this introductory paper, we review the subjects addressed during the meeting ''Solar System Science before and after Gaia'', which is at the origin of the content of this special issue. The several unknowns affecting our knowledge of the dynamical and physical properties of asteroids are briefly discussed, along with the perspectives opened by the availability of Gaia data and other surveys. The role of complementary observations is also stressed.

The Gaia satellite, planned for launch by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2013, is the next generation astrometry mission following Hipparcos. While mapping the whole sky, the Gaia space mission is expected to discover thousands of Solar System Objects. These will include Near-Earth Asteroids and objects at Solar elongations as low as 45 degrees, which are difficult to observe with ground-based telescopes. We present the results of simulations for the detection of Trojan asteroids in the orbits of Earth and Mars by Gaia.

Planetary and Space Science, 2012

Gaia will be able to carry out remote observations of unprecedented quality, mainly in terms of astrometric accuracy. The Gaia astrometry will be also complemented by high-quality photometric and spectroscopic capability. The part of the focal plane assembly devoted to astrometric measurements consists of an array of 62 CCDs, each having pixels 10 Â 30 mm in size. As a general rule, the CCDs, working in TDI mode, will not be used to obtain two-dimensional images of the observed sources, but only one-dimensional signals along the direction of scan of the satellite. These signals will be produced by the convolution of the radiation received from the sources with the Point Spread Function of the instrument. In this paper we focus on the processing of CCD signals produced by observations of asteroids. We show what information will be extracted from the recorded asteroid signals, and we explain the general approach which will be adopted to build an efficient data reduction pipeline. Finally, we describe the most challenging problems encountered in the CCD processing task for asteroid science applications, and the expected limitations which will affect the performances of data analysis.

2014

Abstract: During the Gaia mission, Solar System Object alerts will be triggered toward the ground. We have set up the Gaia-FUN-SSO network in order to coordinate fast reaction for the observation of these targets. In this article, we describe this network at the present stage, its recent activity for training campaigns of observation, and its next activity. We discuss also some points related to this organization and the strategy of observation. 1.

Lecture Notes in Physics, 2009

This paper is a compulsion of several of this CNRS school courses given in Bad-Hofgastein completed by some additional material. It is not intended to give a complete review of the Gaia capabilities for asteroids science, or of the treatment of orbit determination and improvement since the beginning of orbit computation. Neither will it cover each of the different techniques used for any particular problem. We hope however that it gives an overview of the Gaia mission concept, astrometry and photometry of asteroids (and small bodies) in particular from space, and current developments in this research topic. Besides, this school being in French in a German speaking place, some French and German bibliography have sometime been favoured or added.

Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2003

Observation of close encounters of asteroids is a powerful method to determine their masses. A systematic search of such close encounters of asteroids with diameters larger than 40 km has been made thanks to a procedure to select the most efficient phenomena by means of the observable gravitational deflection. This study allows us to give lists of such single (one encounter) and multiple (several encounters between two pairs of asteroids) phenomena that will be observable from ground based astrometric telescopes from 2003 to 2022. We also give lists of single and multiple phenomena spanning 2010-2022 and implying less sensitive deflections only accessible by space astrometry. These last encounters may be observed during the ESA GAIA space mission.

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2014

The European Space Agency Gaia satellite, planned for launch in late 2013, will perform systematic astrometric observations of the whole sky over a five year period. During this mission many thousands of Solar System Objects down to magnitude V = 20 will be observed including Near-Earth Asteroids and objects at Solar elongations as low as 45 • , which are difficult to observe with ground-based telescopes. We simulated the detection of Trojan asteroids in the orbits of Earth and Mars by Gaia. We find that Gaia will not detect the Earth Trojan 2010 TK 7 although it will detect any Earth Trojans with diameters larger than 600 m. We also find that Gaia will detect the currently known Mars Trojans and could discover more than 100 new Mars Trojans as small as 400 m in diameter. The results of the Gaia mission will test the predictions about the Mars Trojan asteroid population and lead to greater understanding about the evolution of the Solar System.