Or is the argument that Gaia is less known because it is not a NASA instrument? Or not an instrument that generates a constant stream of photographs like Hubble or Webb? I've not seen any public surveys on this so I'm not sure if there is real solid data on space telescope public awareness. (2/2) - ThreadSky

About ThreadSky

galaxymap.bsky.social • 5 days ago

Or is the argument that Gaia is less known because it is not a NASA instrument? Or not an instrument that generates a constant stream of photographs like Hubble or Webb?

I've not seen any public surveys on this so I'm not sure if there is real solid data on space telescope public awareness. (2/2)

Comments

astrolaura.com•5 days ago

Thank you! And you're right, I don't get to choose titles but I do probably influence them with my writing

astrolaura.com•5 days ago

Purely anecdotal, but I do a lot of science communication and I'm often asked about JWST and Hubble, but I've never been asked unprompted about Gaia. In astronomy, Gaia has had an astronomical (pun intended) impact. But it doesn't have quite the general appeal of beautiful space images

astrolaura.com•5 days ago

ESA and the Gaia team have done a wonderful job publicising and sharing Gaia, but it doesn't quite have the same hook when it's lots of fabulous measurements rather than lots of fabulous images

galaxymap.bsky.social•5 days ago

I have seen quite a few news articles on Gaia but I've long felt that ESA has missed opportunities to promote the mission, especially by not showing off maps. People are fascinated by maps.

It's not too late. New Gaia data will still be released for years.

galaxymap.bsky.social•5 days ago

It's worth pointing out that NASA's original decision to take Hubble data and convert it into beautiful publishable images was all about public relations. They needed to hire people with artistic skill to do that. ESA could (and should) hire cartographers to do something similar with Gaia data.

Posting Rules

Be respectful to others
No spam or self-promotion
Stay on topic
Follow Bluesky's terms of service

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply