Billion-pixel camera set to snap Milky Way shots

Layer 8 on Network World ^ | Wednesday, July 6, 2011 | Michael Cooney

[SunkenCiv]

From the ESA on Gaia's mission:

• Gaia's transmitter is weak, much less powerful than a standard 100 W light bulb. Even so, this equipment will be able to maintain the transmission of an extremely high data rate (about 5 Mbit/s) across 1.5 million km. ESA's most powerful ground stations, the 35 m-diameter radio dishes in Cebreros, Spain, and New Norcia, Australia, will intercept the faint signal transmitted by Gaia.
• The numbers foreseen in Gaia's celestial census are breathtaking. Every day it will discover, on average, 10 stars possessing planets, 10 stars exploding in other galaxies, 30 'failed stars' known as brown dwarfs, and numerous distant quasars, which are powered by giant black holes.
• Estimates suggest that Gaia will detect about 15, 000 planets beyond our Solar System. It will do this by watching for tiny movements in the star's position caused by the minute gravitational pull of the planet on the star.

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Las Vegas Dave!

In before the "junk science keyword" jackoffs.

Every day it will discover, on average, 10 stars possessing planets

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[RedStateRocker]

You mean the same idiots who want to kill the space telescope but always can find money for the war on drugs?

[Coleus]

at work, rest or play

[EternalVigilance]

Interesting mission. Horrid name.

[ari-freedom]

“Billion-pixel camera set to snap Milky Way shots”

Yes and it will be in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone next year. So hard to keep up with tech these days...

[sawmill trash]

A billion pixel picture sure will make for a wiiiiiide screen if anyone posts it on here.

Remember ... resize first, then post !

[King Moonracer]

“Gaia”

Sounds like a homo in Maine. “Ayup, he’s gayuh”.

[17th Miss Regt]

So that is where all the dark matter is!

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

lol

Could you imagine all the bandwidth that would eat up?

[Flashman_at_the_charge]

Must be the mother of all SD cards in there.

[TheOldLady]

Civ, I’ve been a Pimpbuster too long. Nice hat.

[texson66]

I was fortunate enough to attend a program review for NASA several years ago in the UK at e2V. They were building CCDs for the NASA program and took us on a tour of their facilities for designing, fabricating and testing large CCDs. They had just begun the Gaia effort. I was very impressed with their experience and products. If you are interested in the tech details go to

e2v-reaches-key-milestone--delivering-over-150-imaging-sensors-for-esa-s-galaxy-mapping-mission--gaia--designed-to-be-the-largest-focal-plane-ever-flown-in-space/>

You will have to search for news of 22 July 2010

[SunkenCiv]

Yeah, the very same — the European Space Agency. Way to stay on topic.

[SunkenCiv]

It looks like “gay”, but it’s pronounced “guy-ah”. Obviously the homosexual agenda at work. :’)

[SunkenCiv]

I always complain about rappers, forgetting that candy bar companies have had them for a century or more.

[SunkenCiv]

:’) I’ll post it as-is, with a bandwidth warning in the title, because I like to have the topic cops show up and bitch about misuse of their bandwidth. ;’)

[SunkenCiv]

I had to do it, or he’d slap me around, and refuse to get me a fix.

[SunkenCiv]

Probably leakin’ bits all over the Solar System, creating another problem for the Luddites.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks texson66!