GBOT: ground based optical tracking of the Gaia satellite

Martin Altmann; Sebastien Bouquillon; Francois Taris; Iain A. Steele; Ricky L. Smart; Alexandre H. Andrei; Christophe Barache; Teddy Carlucci; Sebastian G. Els

doi:10.1117/12.2056571

7 August 2014 GBOT: ground based optical tracking of the Gaia satellite

Martin Altmann, Sebastien Bouquillon, Francois Taris, Iain A. Steele, Ricky L. Smart, Alexandre H. Andrei, Christophe Barache, Teddy Carlucci, Sebastian G. Els

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9149, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems V; 91490P (2014) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2056571
Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2014, Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

Gaia, the 1 billion star, high precision, astrometric satellite will revolutionise our understanding in many areas of astronomy ranging from bodies in our Solar System to the formation and structure of our Galaxy. To fully achieve the ambitious goals of the mission, and to completely eliminate effects such as aberration, we must know the position and velocity vectors of the spacecraft as it orbits the Lagrange point to an accuracy greater than can be obtained by traditional radar techniques, leading to the decision to conduct astrometric observations of the Gaia satellite itself from the ground. Therefore the Ground Based Optical Tracking (GBOT) project was formed and a small worldwide network using 1-2 m telescopes established in order to obtain one measurement per day of a precision/accuracy of 20 mas. We will discuss all aspects of GBOT, setup, feasibility considerations, preliminary tests of observing methods, partner observatories, the pipeline/database (see also contribution by Bouquillon et al.¹).

Citation Download Citation

Martin Altmann, Sebastien Bouquillon, Francois Taris, Iain A. Steele, Ricky L. Smart, Alexandre H. Andrei, Christophe Barache, Teddy Carlucci, and Sebastian G. Els "GBOT: ground based optical tracking of the Gaia satellite", Proc. SPIE 9149, Observatory Operations: Strategies, Processes, and Systems V, 91490P (7 August 2014); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2056571

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