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Originally Posted by Chip
Gaia accomplishes a lot of different tasks in one package. That's really amazing. With regard to detecting "as many as 10,000 planets around other stars..." this seems like a long term project since star wobble over time would have to be the main factor for detection. I wonder if the programming linked to Gaia would also be capable of refining detection to include estimated sizes of planets.
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Gaia will detect all Jupiters within couple of hundred of light years (IIRC) which have orbital periods less than ten years. Gaia mission lasts for five years and it can detect planets that have made at least half of their orbital revolutions. Astrometric detection allows the measurement of planet's absolute mass.
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Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.
-- Richard Feynman
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