Context. We present the second Gaia data release, Gaia DR2, consisting of astrometry, photometry, radial velocities, and information on astrophysical parameters and variability, for sources brighter than magnitude 21. In addition epoch astrometry and photometry are provided for a modest sample of minor planets in the solar system. Aims: A summary of the contents of Gaia DR2 is presented, accompanied by a discussion on the differences with respect to Gaia DR1 and an overview of the main limitations which are still present in the survey. Recommendations are made on the responsible use of Gaia DR2 results. Methods: The raw data collected with the Gaia instruments during the first 22 months of the mission have been processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) and turned into this second data release, which represents a major advance with respect to Gaia DR1 in terms of completeness, performance, and richness of the data products. Results: Gaia DR2 contains celestial positions and the apparent brightness in G for approximately 1.7 billion sources. For 1.3 billion of those sources, parallaxes and proper motions are in addition available. The sample of sources for which variability information is provided is expanded to 0.5 million stars. This data release contains four new elements: broad-band colour information in the form of the apparent brightness in the GBP (330-680 nm) and GRP (630-1050 nm) bands is available for 1.4 billion sources; median radial velocities for some 7 million sources are presented; for between 77 and 161 million sources estimates are provided of the stellar effective temperature, extinction, reddening, and radius and luminosity; and for a pre-selected list of 14 000 minor planets in the solar system epoch astrometry and photometry are presented. Finally, Gaia DR2 also represents a new materialisation of the celestial reference frame in the optical, the Gaia-CRF2, which is the first optical reference frame based solely on extragalactic sources. There are notable changes in the photometric system and the catalogue source list with respect to Gaia DR1, and we stress the need to consider the two data releases as independent. Conclusions: Gaia DR2 represents a major achievement for the Gaia mission, delivering on the long standing promise to provide parallaxes and proper motions for over 1 billion stars, and representing a first step in the availability of complementary radial velocity and source astrophysical information for a sample of stars in the Gaia survey which covers a very substantial fraction of the volume of our galaxy.

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Gaia Data Release 2. Summary of the contents and survey properties

Gaia is a cornerstone mission in the science programme of the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA). The spacecraft construction was approved in 2006, following a study in which the original interferometric concept was changed to a direct-imaging approach. Both the spacecraft and the payload were built by European industry. The involvement of the scientific community focusses on data processing for which the international Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) was selected in 2007. Gaia was launched on 19 December 2013 and arrived at its operating point, the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth-Moon system, a few weeks later. The commissioning of the spacecraft and payload was completed on 19 July 2014. The nominal five-year mission started with four weeks of special, ecliptic-pole scanning and subsequently transferred into full-sky scanning mode. We recall the scientific goals of Gaia and give a description of the as-built spacecraft that is currently (mid-2016) being operated to achieve these goals. We pay special attention to the payload module, the performance of which is closely related to the scientific performance of the mission. We provide a summary of the commissioning activities and findings, followed by a description of the routine operational mode. We summarise scientific performance estimates on the basis of in-orbit operations. Several intermediate Gaia data releases are planned and the data can be retrieved from the Gaia Archive, which is available through the Gaia home page.

The Gaia mission

On September 14, 2015 at 09:50:45 UTC the two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory simultaneously observed a transient gravitational-wave signal. The signal sweeps upwards in frequency from 35 to 250 Hz with a peak gravitational-wave strain of 1.0×10(-21). It matches the waveform predicted by general relativity for the inspiral and merger of a pair of black holes and the ringdown of the resulting single black hole. The signal was observed with a matched-filter signal-to-noise ratio of 24 and a false alarm rate estimated to be less than 1 event per 203,000 years, equivalent to a significance greater than 5.1σ. The source lies at a luminosity distance of 410(-180)(+160)  Mpc corresponding to a redshift z=0.09(-0.04)(+0.03). In the source frame, the initial black hole masses are 36(-4)(+5)M⊙ and 29(-4)(+4)M⊙, and the final black hole mass is 62(-4)(+4)M⊙, with 3.0(-0.5)(+0.5)M⊙c(2) radiated in gravitational waves. All uncertainties define 90% credible intervals. These observations demonstrate the existence of binary stellar-mass black hole systems. This is the first direct detection of gravitational waves and the first observation of a binary black hole merger.

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The Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger

At about 1000 days after the launch of Gaia we present the first Gaia data release, Gaia DR1, consisting of astrometry and photometry for over 1 billion sources brighter than magnitude 20.7. We summarize Gaia DR1 and provide illustrations of the scientific quality of the data, followed by a discussion of the limitations due to the preliminary nature of this release. Gaia DR1 consists of: a primary astrometric data set which contains the positions, parallaxes, and mean proper motions for about 2 million of the brightest stars in common with the Hipparcos and Tycho-2 catalogues and a secondary astrometric data set containing the positions for an additional 1.1 billion sources. The second component is the photometric data set,consisting of mean G-band magnitudes for all sources. The G-band light curves and the characteristics of ~3000 Cepheid and RR Lyrae stars, observed at high cadence around the south ecliptic pole, form the third component. For the primary astrometric data set the typical uncertainty is about 0.3 mas for the positions and parallaxes, and about 1 mas/yr for the proper motions. A systematic component of ~0.3 mas should be added to the parallax uncertainties. For the subset of ~94000 Hipparcos stars in the primary data set, the proper motions are much more precise at about 0.06 mas/yr. For the secondary astrometric data set, the typical uncertainty of the positions is ~10 mas. The median uncertainties on the mean G-band magnitudes range from the mmag level to ~0.03 mag over the magnitude range 5 to 20.7. Gaia DR1 represents a major advance in the mapping of the heavens and the availability of basic stellar data that underpin observational astrophysics. Nevertheless, the very preliminary nature of this first Gaia data release does lead to a number of important limitations to the data quality which should be carefully considered before drawing conclusions from the data.

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Gaia Data Release 1. Summary of the astrometric, photometric, and survey properties

Context. At about 1000 days after the launch of Gaia we present the first Gaia data release, Gaia DR1, consisting of astrometry and photometry for over 1 billion sources brighter than magnitude 20.7. Aims: A summary of Gaia DR1 is presented along with illustrations of the scientific quality of the data, followed by a discussion of the limitations due to the preliminary nature of this release. Methods: The raw data collected by Gaia during the first 14 months of the mission have been processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) and turned into an astrometric and photometric catalogue. Results: Gaia DR1 consists of three components: a primary astrometric data set which contains the positions, parallaxes, and mean proper motions for about 2 million of the brightest stars in common with the Hipparcos and Tycho-2 catalogues - a realisation of the Tycho-Gaia Astrometric Solution (TGAS) - and a secondary astrometric data set containing the positions for an additional 1.1 billion sources. The second component is the photometric data set, consisting of mean G-band magnitudes for all sources. The G-band light curves and the characteristics of 3000 Cepheid and RR Lyrae stars, observed at high cadence around the south ecliptic pole, form the third component. For the primary astrometric data set the typical uncertainty is about 0.3 mas for the positions and parallaxes, and about 1 mas yr-1 for the proper motions. A systematic component of 0.3 mas should be added to the parallax uncertainties. For the subset of 94 000 Hipparcos stars in the primary data set, the proper motions are much more precise at about 0.06 mas yr-1. For the secondary astrometric data set, the typical uncertainty of the positions is 10 mas. The median uncertainties on the mean G-band magnitudes range from the mmag level to0.03 mag over the magnitude range 5 to 20.7. Conclusions: Gaia DR1 is an important milestone ahead of the next Gaia data release, which will feature five-parameter astrometry for all sources. Extensive validation shows that Gaia DR1 represents a major advance in the mapping of the heavens and the availability of basic stellar data that underpin observational astrophysics. Nevertheless, the very preliminary nature of this first Gaia data release does lead to a number of important limitations to the data quality which should be carefully considered before drawing conclusions from the data.

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Gaia Data Release 1 Summary of the astrometric, photometric, and survey properties

This work presents the results of a kinematic analysis of the Galaxy that uses a new model as applied to the newest available Gaia data. We carry out the Taylor decomposition of the velocity field up to second order for 18 million high luminosity stars (i.e., young OB, giants and subgiants) from the Gaia DR3 data. We determine the components of mean stellar velocities and their first and second partial derivatives (relative to cylindrical coordinates) for more than 28 thousand points in the plane of our Galaxy. We estimate Oort's constants A, B, C, and K and other kinematics parameters and map them as a function of Galactocentric coordinates. The values found confirm the results of our previous works and are in excellent agreement with those obtained by other authors. In addition, the introduction of second order partial derivatives of the stellar velocity field allows us to determine the values of the vertical gradient of the Galaxy azimuthal, radial and vertical velocities. Also, we determine the mean of the Galaxy rotation curve for Galactocentric distances from 4 kpc to 18 kpc by averaging Galactic azimuths in the range -30$^\circ$<$\theta$<+30$^\circ$ about the direction Galactic Centre -- Sun --Galactic anticentre. Maps of the velocity components and of their partial derivatives with respect to coordinates within 10 kpc of the Sun reveal complex substructures, which provide clear evidence of non-axisymmetric features of the Galaxy. Finally, we show evidence of differences in the Northern and Southern hemispheres stellar velocity fields.

A New kinematic model of the Galaxy: analysis of the stellar velocity field from \emph{Gaia} Data Release 3

The high accuracy of modern space astrometry requires the use of General Relativity to model the propagation of stellar light through the gravitational field encountered from a source to a given observer inside the Solar System. In this sense relativistic astrometry is part of fundamental physics. The general relativistic definition of astrometric measurement needs an appropriate use of the concept of reference frame, which should then be linked to the conventions of the IAU Resolutions (2000), which fix the celestial coordinate system. A consistent definition of the astrometric observables in the context of General Relativity is also essential to find uniquely the stellar coordinates and proper motion, this being the main physical task of the inverse ray tracing problem. Aim of this work is to set the level of reciprocal consistency of two relativistic models, GREM and RAMOD (Gaia, ESA mission), in order to garantee a physically correct definition of light direction to a star, an essential item for deducing the star coordinates and proper motion within the same level of measurement accuracy.

Physical Reference Frames and Astrometric Measurements of Star Direction in General Relativity \\I. Stellar Aberration

Context. Relativistic models of light propagation adopted for high-precision astrometry are based on the parametrised post-Newtonian formalism, which provides a framework for examining the effects of a hypothetical violation of general relativity on astrometric data. Astrometric observations are strongly affected by the post-Newtonian (PPN) parameter γ describing the strength of gravitational light deﬂection. Aims. We study both analytically and numerically how a deviation in the PPN parameter γ from unity, which is the value predicted by general relativity, affects the parallax estimations in Gaia -like astrometry. Methods. Changes in the observable quantities produced by a small variation in PPN γ were calculated analytically. We then considered how such variations of the observables are reﬂected in the parallax estimations, and we performed numerical simulations to check the theoretical predictions. Results. A variation in the PPN γ results in a global shift of parallaxes and we present a formula describing the parallax bias in terms of the satellite barycentric distance, the angle between the spin axis and the direction to the Sun, and the PPN γ uncertainty. Numerical simulations of the astrometric solutions conﬁrm the theoretical result. The up-to-date estimation of PPN γ suggests that a corresponding contribution to the Gaia parallax zero point unlikely exceeds 0.2 µ as. The numerical simulations indicate that the parallax shift is strongly dependent on ecliptic latitude. It is argued that this effect is due to an asymmetry in the Gaia scanning law and this conclusion is fully validated by additional simulations with a reversed direction of the precession of the spin axis around the direction to the Sun.

Post-Newtonian gravity and Gaia -like astrometry Effect of PPN γ uncertainty on parallaxes

The direct detection of gravitational waves by ground-based optical interferometers has opened a new window in astronomy. Nevertheless, as these detectors are a combination of two Michelson-Morley like baselines, their sensitivity for determining the incident direction of a gravitational wave is quite weak compared to current high-precision of space astrometry. We therefore present a novel concept for a gravitational wave antenna in space that uses close pairs of point-like sources as natural sensors to record and characterize the very tiny variations in angular separations induced by a passing gravitational wave, thus operating com-plementarily to linear arm detectors and enabling to gain informations on the gravitational wave incoming direction. Indeed, the proposed astrometric gravitational wave observable builds on methods of relativistic astrometry that can substantially enhance the strength of gravitational wave signals by exploiting to the fullest the telescope optical resolution and, at same time, provide a powerful tool for identifying the direction to the sources that originated the gravitational wave by monitoring close pairs of stars. Furthermore, the use of two local-line-of-sights in a diﬀerential formulation avoids issues related to high order modeling of the local (Solar System) background geometry and the need for accurate satellite ephemeris and attitude.

On the principle of Astrometric Gravitational Wave Antenna

We describe a way to compare current relativistic astrometric models accurate to the micro-arcsecond level from which an astrometric catalogue will be deduced. The observed stellar direction can be written as a function of several parts, linking the astrometric observables to the relativistic effects associated to the stellar kinematical properties and distances as seen inside the gravitational field of our Solar System, i.e. the so called relativistic astrometric parameters, providing a tool for comparing the RAMOD framework to the pM/pN approaches.

Mariateresa Crosta

Papers

A New kinematic model of the Galaxy: analysis of the stellar velocity field from \emph{Gaia} Data Release 3

Physical Reference Frames and Astrometric Measurements of Star Direction in General Relativity \\I. Stellar Aberration

Post-Newtonian gravity and Gaia -like astrometry Effect of PPN γ uncertainty on parallaxes

On the principle of Astrometric Gravitational Wave Antenna

Astrometric observable and relativistic astrometric catalogues