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Cambridge astronomer Dr Floor van Leeuwen has just released significantly more accurate distances to more than 100,000 stars. He spent the past 10 years checking and recalculating data gathered by the Hipparcos satellite. Apparently, due to a previously unknown temperature problem that caused a physical skewing of the satellite, all of the data previously calculated was wrong.
Hipparcos' data underpins the
system of cosmic measurement
"These missions are very expensive, and getting everything out should be the aim of every scientist working on a mission like Hipparcos," van Leeuwen told the BBC.
The first Hipparcos catalogues were published in 1997, causing a raging debate because some of the distances listed appeared shorter than the figures obtained by ground-based observations.
Hipparcos' distance to Pleiades was
shorter than it should have been
"The discovery of the problem with the satellite left me with no option but to recalculate the data," van Leeuwen explained. "I knew that it could be done and I knew that the existing data could be significantly improved in all aspects, so I had no choice.
"It was an extremely painful process. You can spend a whole weekend examining one small part of the data, and making the resultant corrections can take two weeks. But the result is that we now have a catalogue more accurate than ever before, and one in which we know that all the calculations work."
But he did it – in his spare time, so to speak. Hearty congratulations, Dr. van Leeuwen – you're the man!
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