How many exoplanets does the Gaia mission forecast detecting via astrometric wobble within 1,600 light-years?
Answer
Some tens of thousands of exoplanets
The European Space Agency’s Gaia mission is projected to cause a revolution in astrometric exoplanet discovery due to its unprecedented data quality and precision. Gaia is constructing a massive, three-dimensional map of the Milky Way, observing over a billion stars. Scientists forecast that utilizing the superior precision capabilities of Gaia—eventually targeting about 10 microarcseconds for its brightest stars—will allow the detection of some tens of thousands of exoplanets orbiting stars within approximately 1,600 light-years of the Sun, based solely on measuring their astrometric wobble.
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