A Basic Angle (BA) of 106.5° separates the view directions of Gaia's two fields of view (FoV). A precise determination of the BA variations (BAV) is essential to guarantee a correct reconstruction of the global astrometric sphere, as residual systematic errors would result in, e.g., a bias in the parallaxes of the final Gaia catalog. The Basic Angle Monitoring (BAM) device, which provides a reliable and accurate estimation of BAV, shows that there exists a ~1 mas amplitude, 6-h period BA oscillation. It's essential to verify to what extent this signal is caused by real BAV, or is at least in part an effect of the BAM device itself. Here, we propose an astrometric on-sky approach to re-determine the 6-h periodic BAV. The results of this experiment, which treated a full day (17 Oct 2016) of Gaia astrometric data, recover a value for the 6-h oscillation of 1.856±0.857 mas. This is consistent, within the errors, with the BAM finding for that day.

We have investigated the chemo-dynamical evolution of a Milky Way-like disk galaxy, AqC4, produced by a cosmological simulation integrating a sub-resolution ISM model. We evidence a global inside-out and upside-down disk evolution, that is consistent with a scenario where the “thin disk” stars are formed from the accreted gas close to the galactic plane, while the older “thick disk” stars are originated in situ at higher heights. Also, the bar appears the most effective heating mechanism in the inner disk. Finally, no significant metallicity-rotation correlation has been observed, in spite of the presence of a negative [Fe/H] radial gradient.

We use methods of differential astrometry to construct a small field inertial reference frame stable at the micro-arcsecond level. Using Gaia measurements of field angles we look at the influence of the number of reference stars and the stars magnitude as well as astrometric systematics on the total error budget with the help of Gaia-like simulations around the Ecliptic Pole in a differential astrometric scenario. We find that the systematic errors are modeled and reliably estimated to the μas level even in fields with a modest number of 37 stars with G <13 mag over a 0.24 sq. degrees field of view for short timescales of the order of a day for a perfect instrument and with high-cadence observations. Accounting for large-scale calibrations by including the geometric instrument model over such short timescales requires fainter stars down to G=14 mag without diminishing the accuracy of the reference frame.

We searched the first Gaia data release for Galactic central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe) for parallaxes in order to determine the distances of the hosting PNe. For the small sample of PNe for which a comparison is available, we show that distances derived from Gaia parallaxes agree, within the uncertainties, with the individual PN distances derived by other reliable methods. While Gaia parallaxes available for Galactic CSPNe are still few, and with high uncertainties, we studied the possibility of building a PN distance scale by using the Gaia distances as calibrators. We found that a scale built on the relation between the linear nebular radius and its surface brightness has promising future applications.

We examine the evolution induced by secular processes of an initial, cosmologically motivated, radial chemical distribution, in a barred and an unbarred disk.

We report on the discovery and characterization of a possibly new signature related to the formation of the Milky Way stellar local halo.

Most of the discovered exoplanets are close to our sun. Usually their host star is with large proper motions, which is an important parameter for exoplanet searching. The first version of absolute proper motions catalog achieved based on Digitized Sky Survey Schmidt plate where outside the galactic plane |b|≥27° is presented, resulting in a zero point error less than ± 0.3 mas/yr, and the overall accuracy better than ± 4.5 mas/yr for objects brighter than RF=18.5, and ranging from 4.5 to 9.0 mas/yr for objects with magnitude 18.5<RF<20.5. The systematic errors of absolute proper motions related to the position, magnitude and color are practically all removed. The sky cover of this catalog is 22,525 degree2, the mean density is 6444 objects/degree2 and the magnitude limit is around RF=20.5.

We report on the parsec program, which observed 140 L and T dwarfs on a regular basis from 2007 to 2011, using the WIFI camera on the ESO/2.2 m telescope. Trigonometric parallaxes at 5 mas precision are derived for 49 objects, and mas yr−1-level proper motions are derived for approximately 200,000 objects in the same fields. We discuss image cleaning, object centroiding, and astrometric methods, in particular three different approaches for trigonometric parallax determination.

Gaia is an ESA Cornerstone mission, scheduled to be launched in spring 2013, dedicated to precisely measure the positions and motions of over a billion stars in our galaxy: the Milky Way. Gaia Data Processing Center Turin (DPCT), the Italian DPC, is hosted and operated at ALTEC in Turin. The primary objective of DPCT is to provide the infrastructure and operations support to the Astrometric Verification Unit (AVU) activities for CU3 and the Italian participation to the Gaia data processing tasks. DPCT will archive all of the data, produced for and delivered to DPAC as part of the Italian contribution to the activities of CU4, CU5, CU7, and CU8.

GAME (Gravitation Astrometric Measurement Experiment) is a mission concept based on astronomical techniques for high precision measurements of interest to Fundamental Physics and cosmology, in particular the γ and β parameters of the Parameterized Post-Newtonian formulation of gravitation theories extending the General Relativity.

High precision astrometry also provides the light deflection induced by the quadrupole moment of Jupiter and Saturn, and, by high precision determination of the orbits of Mercury and high elongation asteroids, the PPN parameter β.

The astrometric and photometric capabilities of GAME may also provide crucial complementary information on a selected set of known exo-planets.

Small ground-based telescopes can effectively be used to look for transiting rocky planets around nearby low-mass M stars, as recently demonstrated for example by the MEarth project. Since December 2009 at the Astronomical Observatory of the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley (OAVdA) we are monitoring photometrically a sample of red dwarfs with accurate parallax measurements. The primary goal of this ‘pilot study’ is the characterization of the photometric microvariability of each target over a typical period of approximately 2 months. This is the preparatory step to long-term survey with an array of identical small telescopes, with kick-off in early 2011. Here we discuss the present status of the study, describing the stellar sample, and presenting the most interesting results obtained so far, including the aggressive data analysis devoted to the characterization of the variability properties of the sample and the search for transit-like signals.

GAME (Gamma Astrometric Measurement Experiment) is a concept for a small mission whose main goal is to measure from space the γ parameter of the Parameterized Post-Newtonian formalism, Will (2001)) A satellite, looking as close as possible to the Solar limb, measures the gravitational bending of light in a way similar to that followed by past experiments from the ground during solar eclipses. In the cited formalism, deviations of the γ parameter from unity are interpreted as deviations from the predictions of General Relativity which are foreseen by several competing theories of gravity. In the present theoretical scenario, such deviations are expected to appear in the range between 10−5 and 10−7. The most stringent experimental constraints available up to now are those of the Cassini mission, that gives 1−γ≲10−5 Bertotti et al. (2003), while future space missions are expected to reach the 10−7 level of accuracy. (Vecchiato et al. (2003), Turyshev et al. (2004), Ni (2008))

Preliminary simulations have shown that the expected final accuracy of GAME can reach the 10−7 level, or better if the mission profile can be extended to fit a larger budget Vecchiato et al. (2009), Gai et al. (2009). This work, which has recently been extended to better assess the mission performances, has confirmed the previous results and has given indications on how further improve various aspects of the mission profile.

Moreover, thanks to its flexible observation strategy, GAME is also able to target other interesting scientific goals in the realm of General Relativity, as well as in those involving observations of selected extrasolar systems in the brown dwarf and planetary regime.

Gaia will estimate the astrometric and physical data of approximately one billion objects. The core of this process, the global sphere reconstruction, is represented by the reduction of a subset of these objects, which will constitute the largest and most precise catalog of absolute astrometry in the history of Astronomy, and will put General Relativity to test by estimating the PPN parameter γ with unprecedented accuracy. As the Hipparcos mission showed, and as it is natural for all kind of absolute measurements, possible errors in the data reduction can hardly be identified at the end of the processing, and can lead to systematic errors in all the works which will use these results. In order to avoid such kind of problems, a Verification Unit was established by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC). One of its jobs is to implement and perform an independent global sphere reconstruction, parallel to the baseline one, to compare the two results, and to report any significant difference.

The Business Meeting was opened by the president, Imants Platais. He presented the agenda which was unanimously approved. This session was attended by 40 participants. The meeting approved Dafydd Evans as secretary of minutes.