The GAIA spacecraft, an image – 6 Feb. 2025.
We imaged the Esa’s GAIA spacecraft, now that it stopped its scientific operations and looks much brighter than in the past.
The GAIA spacecraft: 6 Feb. 2025.
The image above comes from the average of 3, 300-second, unguided exposures, unfiltered, remotely taken with the “Elena” (PlaneWave 17″ + Paramount MEII + SBIG STL-6303E) robotic unit available as part of the Virtual Telescope Project in Manciano, Italy. The telescope tracked to spacecraft during exposures. Very bright Moon high in the sky.
GAIA (Global Astrometric Interferometer for Astrophysics) was launched in Dec. 2013 and managed to measure the positions, distances and motions of stars with unprecedented precision, giving an outstanding contribution to science. It was placed in the L2 Lagrangian point, where several spacecrafts – including the James Webb Space Telescope – are located.
It is impossible to summarize the immense scientific return of the mission, we invite you to visit GAIA’s website for this.
After ending its scientific activities on 15 Jan. 2025, GAIA is now performing several tests, which required a different orientation of the spacecraft, resulting in a significant increase in apparent brightness, making it easier to spot in the sky. Our image was taken during this phase.
We plan further follow-up in the next days.
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