Nordita, Stockholm, Sweden
The aim of the Gaia Challenge is to prepare and discuss the exploitation of Gaia data, the first release of which will be on September 14 2016 (Gaia Data Release scenario). The format, as previously, is that participants are invited to apply their favorite techniques to mock data in an effort to recover underlying physical quantities, like the gravitational potential and the phase-space structure of stars. However, this year a particular focus will be dedicated to the first data release of Gaia. The mock data will be distributed in advance, and the workshop itself is focused in comparing and discussing results, honing the various techniques, and building collaborations. The challenges are divided into four broad categories.
The four modules with their coordinators are:
- Spherical & Triaxial (Justin Read)
- Discs & Extinction Map (Daisuke Kawata, Giacomo Monari)
- Streams & Halo Stars (Robyn Sanderson)
- Collisional Systems (Vincent Henault-Brunet, Mark Gieles)
The Gaia Challenge is part of the Nordita scientific program Dark Matter Distribution in the Era of Gaia, 10 October - 14 October 2016.