Ground-based observations of the Gaia spacecraft in 2025

 

Between 15 January and 27 March 2025, a period of technology testing takes place. On 15 January, Gaia stopped its scanning of the sky and no new star data was obtained since then. The technology tests performed since then are aimed at increasing our knowledge of the spacecraft and may potentially improve Gaia calibrations and can help the preparation of future missions. The Gaia spacecraft became more easily visible in the night sky and citizen astronomers are invited to follow-up and make observations from the Gaia spacecraft. Here we share these observations taken from Earth of the Gaia space telescope.

Find below quick links to the different observations from across the world:

We are happy to see so much enthusiasm among citizen astronomers and received many observations from all over the world. We are still reviewing and preparing them and will continue posting more observations of the Gaia spacecraft here. Please be reminded to send your fits files to our colleagues in Heidelberg. All details can be found on the Gaia observation page.

Observations from China

Observations performed on 22 January 2025 between 14:45 and 16:48 UTC from the MPC observation site (code P13) in Beijing, China by Zhuo-Xiao Wang.

Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Zhuo-Xiao Wang. Credits: Zhuo-Xiao Wang, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Observations from Portugal

Observation performed from Quinta do Lago, Portugal by Ed Serpell using a Seestar S50 (50mm aperture lens mounted on an alt-azimuth mount). The observation was created using stacked 10 second images obtained for a total of 1 to 2 hours on 1 February 2025.

Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Ed Serpell. Credits: Ed Serpell - CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Observations from Germany

Observations performed on 31 January, 01 February and 02 February from Großostheim Wenigumstadt, Germany by Klaus Wenzel.

Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Klaus Wenzel on 31 January using 208/812mm Newton telescope, Germany. Observation taken on the 1st of February available here. Credits: Klaus Wenzel - CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Klaus Wenzel on 2 February using 208/812mm Newton telescope, Germany. Credits: Klaus Wenzel - CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Observations from Spain

Observations performed from 5 February 2025 20:42 to 6 February 05:55 UTC, 180 exposures of 3 minutes from geographic latitude 42.22 degrees North (Spain) by Alexander Wrede from Germany. Telescope used is the Takahashi TOA130 with 10Micron GM3000 and Camera: Player One Zeus IMX455 Mono Pro using the filter Astronomik Luminanzfilter L2.

Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Alexander Wrede. Credits: Alexander Wrede - CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Observations from Germany

Observations performed on 25 January 2025 between 19:00 and 21:00 UTC from observation location 86405 in Germany by Andy Bender.

Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Andy Bender, Sternwarte Meckesheim, Germany. G-channel at 15.6 magnitude. Also performed in R-channel at 15.4 magnitude and in B-channel at 16.1 magnitude. Credits: Andy Bender - CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Andy Bender, Sternwarte Meckesheim, Germany. Stacked images showing the movement of Gaia over this period of time​​​​​​​. Credits: Andy Bender - CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

 

Observations from Chile

Observations performed on 28 January between 01:02 to 04:36 from Chile (latitude -30.5 / longitude -70.8 / altitude 1710m) by Michal Zejmo from the University of Zielona Gora Observatory, Poland. Observations were made with a PlaneWave CDK500 telescope system and a QHY268Pro camera, using the g-sloan filter with and exposure time of 60 seconds.

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Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Michal Zejmo. Credits: Michal Zejmo - University of Zielona Gora Observatory, Poland - CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

 

Observations from Germany

Observation performed from Munich, Germany by Stathis Kafalis over 7.3 hours on the night of 29 January 2025 between 20:27 and 04:20 UTC on 30 January. Telescope used is TS-UNC Newton 250/1000 + TS-GPU-Coma Corrector, combined with a ToupTek 2600C camera (IMX 571 Color Sensor)


Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Stathis Kafalis. Credits: Stathis Kafalis.

​​​​​​​Observations from Chile

These observations were made by Rafael Castillo from Chile with the remote iTelescope T72 on 3 February 2025.

Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Rafael Castillo. Credits: Rafael Castillo García, Asociación Astronómica Cruz del Norte - CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Observations from Belgium

These observations were made by Wesley Verbraecken from Laakdal, Belgium with a Vixen VMC260l telescope in combination with an ASI1600mm camera taking images of 45 seconds each, then combined these images into a stack. The observation was performed on 3 February 2025 between 21:36 and 22:15 UTC.

Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Wesley Verbraecken. Credits: Wesley Verbraecken.

 

Observations from Spain

These observations were made by Liz Phillips, an undergraduate student from the University of California, Santa Barbara, USA on 28 January 2025 at 22:35 UTC. The telescopee used is located at the Teide Observatory near Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.

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Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Liz Phillips. Credits: Liz Pillips/Las Cumbres Observatory.

Observations from Australia

Observations performed on 29 January 2025 between 14:43 and 15:59 UT from the Mardella Observatory (code E29) of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) at the University of Western Australia by Jingyuan Zhao (赵经远) and Paul Luckas. Telescope used was a SPIRIT 3 (0.32-m f/8 Corrected Dall-Kirkham (Planewave CDK 12.5) + CCD (FLI Proline 16803)).


Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Jingyuan Zhao (赵经远) and Paul Luckas. Credits: Jingyuan Zhao (赵经远), Paul Luckas

Observations from the United Kingdom

This video shows the Gaia spacecraft as observed from West Cornforth, County Durham in the United Kingdom by Juergen Schmoll. The video was created from 100 frames of 120 second exposure time each, using a 355/2200mm Schmidt Cassegrain telescope (14" Meade SCT with Starizona f/6.3 reducer). The camera used is a IMX571c chip based Altair Hypercam 26c. The exposures were guided but the tracking was impacted by strong wind. The sky background variation is caused by the moon as it was setting during the 200 minute-observation.

Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Juergen Schmoll. Credits: Juergen Schmoll.

Observations from Poland

These observations of the Gaia spacecraft were taken on 26th January 2025, from 21:39 to 22:16 UT, at the astronomical observatory located at the primary school in Sulkowice-Bolecina, in southern Poland by Sebastian Kurowski. Coordinates of the observatory: latitude: 49°49'11.377" N / longitude: 19°22'13.875" E. The observations were performed with a GSO 16-inch Ritchey-Chretien on EQ-8 mount telescope, combined with a ZWO ASI2600MM Pro camera. The exposure time is 180 seconds for each frame, using the R filter.

Observations of the Gaia spacecraft by Sebastian Kurowski. Credits: Sebastian Kurowski – School Astronomical Observatory Bolecina (SOA Bolecina), Poland.