Gaia is the European Space Agency's flagship mission for this decade, and is revolutionising our understanding of the Milky Way and beyond, by allowing astronomers to measure distances to a billion stars.
I will outline the Gaia mission, and some of the technology that makes this possible. As the first public Gaia data release is made in September 2016, I will highlight some of the key science results to date, and discuss some of the things to look forward to from Gaia in the future. Finally, I will talk about the Gaia Alerts project, which uses Gaia data to find transients, and how amateur astronomers are getting involved.
Doors open about 7.15pm. There is free parking available on the campus in the evenings. Admission Free, including light refreshments. We are located in the Bell Theatre, Department of Mathematics and Physics, QUB – details here……
With thanks to the Astrophysics Research Centre, QUB, for assistance with this event.