An outstanding asteroid explorer

Asteroids are fascinating objects, and hold unique insights into the formation and evolution of the Solar System. Binaries are even more exciting, enabling us to study how different bodies form, collide and interact in space.

Thanks to its unique all-sky scanning capabilities, Gaia has made a number of important asteroid discoveries since its launch in 2013.

In its data release 3, Gaia precisely pinpointed the positions and motions of 150 000+ asteroids — so precisely that scientists could dig deeper and hunt for asteroids displaying the characteristic ‘wobble’ caused by the tug of an orbiting companion (the same mechanism as displayed here for a binary star). Gaia also gathered data on asteroid chemistry, compiling the largest ever collection of asteroid ‘reflectance spectra’ (light curves that reveal an object’s colour and composition).