New Gaia-telescope launched to Space

This morning Gaia performed a turn as part of its commissioning process. 20 hours earlier it turned 45 degrees to face the sun, increasing its apparent brightness by 5 magnitudes as seen from earth. This morning's maneuver turned it back to the original orientation to test the accuracy of its pointing mechanisms. I captured this morning's turn using a 20" telescope in Australia over the internet. It's the bright moving star in the center which fades out.

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