Milky Way mapper: ways the Gaia spacecraft will change astronomy

>Some groups have planned ‘Gaia hacking’ and ‘Gaia sprint’ events, at which researchers will collectively work out how best to exploit the sudden manna.

That's going to be such a pleasure to watch as it unfolds. New methods of gathering data are exciting of course, but the real excitement for me is seeing people gain access to piles of new data, and what new and unforeseen things they'll do with it.

Software is eating the galaxy.

Seriously, this is amazing stuff. I had no idea what Gaia was, sounds like some compelling science will come from this.

How does Gaia determine the distance of a star?

It can measure

a) parallax - triangulation via the spacecraft's orbit around the sun

b) proper motion - via multiple observations over the years

c) radial velocity - via redshift

a gives us distance, b + c gives us the trajectory through the galaxy.

With an estimated discovery of 350,000 asteroids, I wonder if it will also spot one or more new Kuiper-belt objects, too.