Workshop2013:rationale

Workshop announcement:

Gaia will be ESA's milestone astrometric mission, and is due for launch in Autumn 2013. The final results from this billion stars survey are expected in around 2020. Gaia will repeatedly map the whole sky and will find many transient events, including supernovae, novae, microlensing events, quasar flares, etc. Getting ready for this influx of Gaia data is now very timely and essential.

We would like to invite you to the 4th Gaia Science Alerts Workshop, which will take place at the IAP in Paris, on 19-21 June 2013. During the workshop we will present the current status of the Gaia mission with an emphasis on developments in the alert pipeline and the capabilities of Gaia as a transient survey. The main part of the workshop will be devoted to the organisation of a dedicated follow-up observing team, which will conduct the verification of the alerts, and produce the first scientific results, from Gaia in 2014. The workshop will be an opportunity for presenting the partners and learning how to get involved in the follow-up of Gaia alerts.

This year's workshop is also the first meeting within the EC's OPTICON Time Domain Work Package. The overall plan of this WP is to encourage small and medium telescopes to take part in coordinated time-domain astronomical observations. The Gaia alerts verification team will be the first body to be supported by the OPTICON.

Please note that a limited support for participation in the workshop will be available. There will be no registration fee.