Topics

1. ELSA and Gaia: context and status

* ELSA and Gaia

* General status of the mission (ESA).

* Status of the hardware, satellite and payload (ESA and industry).

2. Gaia modelling

* Simulation of the Gaia instrument and observations.

* Modelling the attitude of the satellite.

* The experience with Hipparcos.

3. Detectors in the space environment

* Radiation effects on Gaia CCDs. Testing and modelling.

* Detectors and radiation effects in the 2015 context.

4. Gaia data analysis

* Gaia data analysis: data connectivity.

* Hardware and software for Gaia

* Processing of massive data sets.

5. Gaia astrometry

* Gaia astrometric global iterative solution, characterisation of errors, monitoring the quality of the astrometric data, calibration and verification.

* Other astrometric space missions within the context of Gaia.

6. Gaia photometry and variability analysis

* Global analysis of Gaia photometric data and calibration methods.

* Detection and analysis of variable stars and transient phenomena.

* Methods used in large ground-based experiments.

7. Gaia spectroscopy

* The Gaia spectroscopic instrument.

* Global analysis of Gaia spectroscopic data and calibration methods.

8. Classification and astrophysical modelling

* Which stellar parameters, with which accuracy ?

* The performance of RAVE and SEGUE.

* Synthetic spectra for stars and galaxies

9. The science with Gaia

* Solar system objects. New perspectives in Solar System science: Gaia in the 2015 context. Asteroid orbit computation. Complementary ground-based observations.

* Stars. New perspectives in stellar physics: Gaia in the 2015 context. Stellar models. Physical limits in astrometric accuracy.

* The Galaxy and its neighbours. New perspectives: Gaia in the 2015 context. Kinematics and dynamics; chemical tagging. New perspectives in understanding the various components of the Galaxy: bulge, disks and halo. Gaia and near-field cosmology.

* The Galaxy and further. Stellar populations in resolved galaxies. Unresolved galaxies. QSO survey and reference frame. Fundamental physics.

* Results from large ground-based surveys

10. Gaia and further

* Prospects for wide field multi-object spectroscopic instrumentation

* How to access the Gaia catalogue ?

* What future for astrometry after Gaia ?