Gaia 1 Explained

Gaia 1
Epoch:J2000
Constellation:Canis Major
Dist Ly:15abbr=onNaNabbr=on
Size V:13 arcmins
Radius Ly:29 ly
Metal Fe:-0.7
Age:6.3 Gyr

Gaia 1 is an open cluster of stars discovered in 2017 by astronomers using data from the Gaia Space Observatory. It is a high-mass and bright cluster, but it remained unseen in prior astronomy due to veiling glare in ordinary telescopes overwhelmed by the star Sirius, which lies 10 arcmins west. Its half-light radius is about 9pc, assuming a distance of 4600pc, and it has an estimated mass of about .

Researchers detected the Gaia 1 cluster applying automated "star gauging" to the Gaia observatory's data on star locations.[1] This analysis surprisingly indicated a prominent concentration of stars, previously unknown and uncataloged, adjacent to Sirius. Gaia observed a cluster population of approximately 1,200 stars down to Gaia magnitude 19. Analysis of 2MASS data for those stars shows a red giant branch and a pronounced red clump that allows the absolute magnitude of the stars to be deduced and the distance calculated. Fitting the red giant branch also allows the age of the cluster to be calculated at 6.3 billion years.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gaia Mission Science Performance. European Space Agency.