The rotation period of Uranus was estimated to be 17.24 +/- 0.01 h in 1986 from radio auroral measurements during the brief Voyager 2 flyby. This value is the basis for the Uranian SIII longitude system still in use. However, the poor period uncertainty limited its validity to a few years, after which the orientation of the magnetic axis was lost. Alternate, conflicting, rotation periods have also been proposed since then. Here we use the long-term tracking of Uranus' magnetic poles between 2011 and 2022 from Hubble Space Telescope images of its ultraviolet aurorae to achieve an updated, independent, extremely precise rotation period of 17.247864 +/- 0.000010 h, only consistent with the Voyager 2 estimate. Its 28-s-longer value and improved accuracy yields a new longitude model now valid over decades, up to the arrival of any future Uranus mission, which will allow the reanalysis of the whole set of Uranus observations. In addition, it has strong direct implications for formation scenarios, interior models, dynamo theories and studies of the magnetosphere. This approach stands as a new method to determine the rotation rate of any object hosting a magnetosphere and a rotationally modulated aurorae, in our Solar System and beyond.

The current standard model of cosmology successfully describes a variety of measurements, but the nature of its main ingredients, dark matter and dark energy, remains unknown. Euclid is a medium-class mission in the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) that will provide high-resolution optical imaging, as well as near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy, over about 14,000 deg^2 of extragalactic sky. In addition to accurate weak lensing and clustering measurements that probe structure formation over half of the age of the Universe, its primary probes for cosmology, these exquisite data will enable a wide range of science. This paper provides a high-level overview of the mission, summarising the survey characteristics, the various data-processing steps, and data products. We also highlight the main science objectives and expected performance.

Context. Strongly lensed quasars are fundamental sources for cosmology. The Gaia space mission covers the entire sky with the unprecedented resolution of $0.18$" in the optical, making it an ideal instrument to search for gravitational lenses down to the limiting magnitude of 21. Nevertheless, the previous Gaia Data Releases are known to be incomplete for small angular separations such as those expected for most lenses. Aims. We present the Data Processing and Analysis Consortium GravLens pipeline, which was built to analyse all Gaia detections around quasars and to cluster them into sources, thus producing a catalogue of secondary sources around each quasar. We analysed the resulting catalogue to produce scores that indicate source configurations that are compatible with strongly lensed quasars. Methods. GravLens uses the DBSCAN unsupervised clustering algorithm to detect sources around quasars. The resulting catalogue of multiplets is then analysed with several methods to identify potential gravitational lenses. We developed and applied an outlier scoring method, a comparison between the average BP and RP spectra of the components, and we also used an extremely randomised tree algorithm. These methods produce scores to identify the most probable configurations and to establish a list of lens candidates. Results. We analysed the environment of 3 760 032 quasars. A total of 4 760 920 sources, including the quasars, were found within 6" of the quasar positions. This list is given in the Gaia archive. In 87\% of cases, the quasar remains a single source, and in 501 385 cases neighbouring sources were detected. We propose a list of 381 lensed candidates, of which we identified 49 as the most promising. Beyond these candidates, the associate tables in this Focused Product Release allow the entire community to explore the unique Gaia data for strong lensing studies further.

We report on the ephemeris development for Menoetius, the satellite of Patroclus. Our data set consisted of ground–based and Hubble Space Telescope relative astrometry, as well as 42 lightcurves from the mutual events seasons in 2007, 2012, and 2017/2018. Our dynamical model included the effects of oblate, nonspherical shapes of the components, and we assumed that Menoetius contained ∼22% of the system’s mass. We numerically integrated the equations of motion and obtained a set of dynamical parameters that fit the data. We report the fit results in terms of residuals, state vectors, orbital elements and their 1 σ uncertainties. The mean osculating semimajor axis is a = 692.5 ± 4.0 km, the mean eccentricity is e = 0.004 ± 0.004, and the International Celestial Reference Frame pole direction in R.A. and decl. is R. A. = 178.0 ± 0.5 deg, δ = −74.1 ± 0.2 deg. We determined the siderial orbital period of P = 4.282753 ± 0.000023 days. The fit yielded the system GM = 0.0950 ± 0.0012 km ^3 s ^−2 , which, in combination with the system volume determined from the stellar occultation and the assumed volume uncertainty of 20%, suggests a system bulk density of 1.05 ± 0.21 g cm ^−3 (1 σ ). The next season of mutual events starts in February of 2024 and lasts until January of 2025. The Patroclus system is in opposition for the observers on Earth in late September and is suitable for observations of the mutual events with an edge-on geometry in October.

Gravitational waves from black-hole merging events have revealed a population of extra-galactic BHs residing in short-period binaries with masses that are higher than expected based on most stellar evolution models - and also higher than known stellar-origin black holes in our Galaxy. It has been proposed that those high-mass BHs are the remnants of massive metal-poor stars. Gaia astrometry is expected to uncover many Galactic wide-binary systems containing dormant BHs, which may not have been detected before. The study of this population will provide new information on the BH-mass distribution in binaries and shed light on their formation mechanisms and progenitors. As part of the validation efforts in preparation for the fourth Gaia data release (DR4), we analysed the preliminary astrometric binary solutions, obtained by the Gaia Non-Single Star pipeline, to verify their significance and to minimise false-detection rates in high-mass-function orbital solutions. The astrometric binary solution of one source, Gaia BH3, implies the presence of a 32.70 \pm 0.82 M\odot BH in a binary system with a period of 11.6 yr. Gaia radial velocities independently validate the astrometric orbit. Broad-band photometric and spectroscopic data show that the visible component is an old, very metal-poor giant of the Galactic halo, at a distance of 590 pc. The BH in the Gaia BH3 system is more massive than any other Galactic stellar-origin BH known thus far. The low metallicity of the star companion supports the scenario that metal-poor massive stars are progenitors of the high-mass BHs detected by gravitational-wave telescopes. The Galactic orbit of the system and its metallicity indicate that it might belong to the Sequoia halo substructure. Alternatively, and more plausibly, it could belong to the ED-2 stream, which likely originated from a globular cluster that had been disrupted by the Milky Way.

Large surveys provide numerous non-targeted observations of small bodies (SSOs). The upcoming LSST of the Rubin observatory will be the largest source of SSO photometry in the next decade. With non-coordinated epochs of observation, colors, and therefore taxonomy and composition, can only be computed by comparing absolute magnitudes obtained in each filter by solving the phase function (evolution of brightness of the small body against the solar phase angle). Current models in use in the community (HG, HG12* , HG1G2) however fail to reproduce the long-term photometry of many targets due to the change in aspect angle between apparitions. We aim at deriving a generic yet simple phase function model accounting for the variable geometry of the SSOs over multiple apparitions. We propose the sHG1G2 phase function model in which we introduce a term describing the brightness changes due to spin orientation and polar oblateness. We apply this new model to 13,245,908 observations of 122,675 SSOs. These observations were acquired in the g and r filters with the Zwicky Transient Facility. We retrieve them and implement the new sHG1G2 model in Fink, a broker of alerts designed for the LSST. The sHG1G2 model leads to smaller residuals than other phase function models, providing a better description of the photometry of asteroids. We determine the absolute magnitude H and phase function coefficients (G1, G2) in each filter, the spin orientation (RA_0,DEC_0), and the polar-to-equatorial oblateness R for 95,593 Solar System Objects (SSOs), which constitutes about a tenfold increase in the number of characterised objects compared to current census. The application of the sHG1G2 model on ZTF alert data using the FINK broker shows that the model is appropriate to extract physical properties of asteroids from multi-band and sparse photometry, such as the forthcoming LSST survey.

The NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft was the first Planetary Defence mission to hit an asteroid, specifically the moon of Didymos, Dimorphos [1]. This impact altered Dimorphos's orbital parameters and excavating significant amount of material. The resultant was observed through limited ground-based telescopes, and for several months after the impact, the asteroid became the first man-made active asteroid, exhibiting mass loss that manifested as a tail, which changed over time [2].The measurements presented here derive from a unique set of photometric data obtained from the ground over several months covering the period before, during and after the impact, between August 2022 and January 2023. The data set taken in collaboration with ESA at Les Makes Observatory (La Réunion) [3], was excellently located to observe the impact and contains more than 8500 images taken over multiple months before and after impact. Another unique data set comes from the TRAPPIST telescopes network [4], two 0.6-m twin telescopes located in Morocco and in Chile. The data from TRAPPIST, contain almost 14 000 images, spanning several months. The images were taken in different filters, for photometric and colour measurements that gave us more information about the asteroid and also the dust composition of the ejecta tail. Here, we present the observations, their analysis and preliminary results on the evolution of ejecta plume and the long-lasting tail.AcknowledgementThis research is funded by the University of Liège and takes place under the COMETA team, and is made possible through TRAPPIST that is a project funded by the Belgian Fonds (National) de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS) under grant T.0120.21 and the support and collaboration of the Royal Observatory of Belgium, Les Makes Observatory, and the European Space Agency. Özgur Karateking, acknowledges the support of European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, NEO-MAPP project (grant: 870377) as well as the funding support from the PRODEX program managed by the European Space Agency (ESA) with help of the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO). Reference[1] Nancy L. Chabot et al (including Petrescu E.), PSJ 5:49 (24pp), 2024 February 2024;[2] Nicholas Moskovitz et al 2024 Planet. Sci. J. 5 35;[3] https://www.observatoiredesmakes.com/[4] Jehin E. et al, The Messenger, vol. 145, p. 2-6, 2

IntroductionThe determination of asteroid spin periods is crucial for understanding the physical properties and evolutionary history of these celestial bodies. The Kepler Space Telescope, initially designed for exoplanet detection, provided valuable data on asteroid rotation periods during its K2 extension in the ecliptic see Fig. 1. This research summarizes the methods and findings from the Kepler/K2 observations of main-belt asteroids. It highlights the extraction and analysis of lightcurves, discusses the challenges encountered, and presents the results obtained. Additionally, the analysis includes the correlation between rotation periods and asteroid taxonomy, as well as a comparison with previously estimated rotation periods. Fig. 1: Location and coverage of the Kepler/K2 observing fields in the sky. The ecliptic plane is shown as a solid line. Asteroid spin periods offer significant insights into their internal structures, shapes, densities, and surface properties. This information is vital for understanding the formation and evolution of the solar system since asteroids are considered remnants of early planetary building blocks. Determining the rotation periods of asteroids also allows for the identification and study of binary systems, enhancing our knowledge of asteroid interactions and dynamics (Margot et al. 2015).Most asteroids exhibit rotation periods exceeding two hours, primarily due to the "spin barrier" phenomenon, which refers to the upper limit of the rotation speed at which asteroids can remain intact without disintegrating due to centrifugal forces (Holsapple 2007). Consequently, long-term observations are required to accurately determine these periods.Kepler’s DataKepler’s data are available in two cadences: long cadence (30-minute intervals) and short cadence (one-minute intervals). The data are stored in Target Pixel Files (TPF), which include two-dimensional arrays for pixel values and one-dimensional arrays for time stamps and cadence numbers. The time stamps are recorded in Barycentric Julian Date (BJD) format. Each TPF also contains metadata about the target star and specifics of the observation.Observation LimitsThe magnitude limit of Kepler’s observations restricts the accuracy of faint asteroid light curves. The Kepler dataset includes over one million asteroid events brighter than the observational depth magnitude limit of 20 mags. However, the presence of bright stars in the TPF’s field of view necessitates focusing on asteroids brighter than 18 magnitudes for reliable light curve extraction (Berthier et al. 2016).The limited field of view of approximately one square arcminute and the typical proper motion of main-belt asteroids (about 30 arcseconds per hour) constrain the ability to determine long spin periods. Therefore, asteroids appearing in the Kepler TPFs at least ten times were prioritized, covering half of the spin period range for most known asteroids.The integration time of the obtained frames limits the detection of rotation periods shorter than 30 minutes. This constraint is significant since most monolithic or rubble-pile asteroids have spin barriers for around 2-2.5 hours (Pravec & Harris 2000).Light Curve ExtractionTo extract light curves from the TPF files, the total flux values across all frames were first calculated. Cotrending Basis Vectors (CBV) were then applied to correct the flux, followed by the selection of points with precomputed time crossings of the asteroids within the field of view. The Lomb-Scargle periodogram technique was used to identify periodic signals within noisy or unevenly sampled data, focusing on periods between one and ten hours (Scargle 1982). The example light curve of the asteroid 204557 Danmark is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 2: An example of a light curve extracted from Kepler K2 data for the asteroid 204557 Danmark. The plot shows the normalized flux as a function of time (in BKJD days), illustrating the periodic variations in brightness due to the asteroid's rotation. ResultsThe rotation periods of several hundred asteroids were calculated, showing a strong correlation with data from ground-based observations, validating the approach. Comparisons with sparse light curves from the Palomar Transient Factory also demonstrated high accuracy. Future surveys like ZTF, Pan-STARRS, and LSST, combined with Kepler data, will further refine asteroid rotation period determinations.The analysis of rotation periods in relation to asteroid taxonomy revealed distinct patterns among different classes of asteroids. By comparing the rotation periods with known taxonomic categories, it was observed that certain types of asteroids, such as C-type (carbonaceous) and S-type (silicaceous), exhibit characteristic rotation periods that align with their physical properties and formation histories. This correlation helps in understanding the compositional diversity and evolutionary processes of asteroid populations (de León et al. 2020).The rotation periods obtained from the Kepler K2 data were compared with those estimated from ground-based observations and other sky surveys. The strong agreement between these datasets confirms the reliability of Kepler’s observations for asteroid spin period analysis. This comparison also highlights the potential for combining different observational techniques to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of asteroid rotational dynamics (Pravec et al.2002).ReferencesMargot, J. L., Pravec, P., Taylor, P., Carry, B., & Jacobson, S. A. (2015). Binary asteroid population. Icarus, 248, 89-121.Holsapple, K. A. (2007). Spin limits of Solar System bodies: From the small fast-rotators to 2003 EL61. Icarus, 187(2), 500-509.Borucki, W. J., et al. (2010). Kepler planet-detection mission: Introduction and first results. Science, 327(5968), 977-980.Howell, S. B., et al. (2014). The K2 Mission: Characterization and Early Results. PASP, 126, 398.Berthier, J., et al. (2016). Prediction of transits of Solar system objects in Kepler/K2 images: an extension of the Virtual Observatory service SkyBoT. MNRAS, 458, 3394-3398.Pravec, P., & Harris, A. W. (2000). Fast and slow rotation of asteroids. Icarus, 148(1), 12-20.Scargle, J. D. (1982). Studies in astronomical time series analysis. II. Statistical aspects of spectral analysis of unevenly spaced data. ApJ, 263, 835-853.de León, J., et al. (2020). Reflectance spectra and taxonomy of near-Earth and Mars-crossing asteroids. Icarus, 341, 113636.Pravec, P., Harris, A. W., & Michalowski, T. (2002). Asteroid Rotations. Asteroids III, 113-122.

We present the third data release of the European Space Agency's Gaia mission, GDR3. The GDR3 catalogue is the outcome of the processing of raw data collected with the Gaia instruments during the first 34 months of the mission by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium. The GDR3 catalogue contains the same source list, celestial positions, proper motions, parallaxes, and broad band photometry in the G, G$_{BP}$, and G$_{RP}$ pass-bands already present in the Early Third Data Release. GDR3 introduces an impressive wealth of new data products. More than 33 million objects in the ranges $G_{rvs} < 14$ and $3100 <T_{eff} <14500 $, have new determinations of their mean radial velocities based on data collected by Gaia. We provide G$_{rvs}$ magnitudes for most sources with radial velocities, and a line broadening parameter is listed for a subset of these. Mean Gaia spectra are made available to the community. The GDR3 catalogue includes about 1 million mean spectra from the radial velocity spectrometer, and about 220 million low-resolution blue and red prism photometer BPRP mean spectra. The results of the analysis of epoch photometry are provided for some 10 million sources across 24 variability types. GDR3 includes astrophysical parameters and source class probabilities for about 470 million and 1500 million sources, respectively, including stars, galaxies, and quasars. Orbital elements and trend parameters are provided for some $800\,000$ astrometric, spectroscopic and eclipsing binaries. More than $150\,000$ Solar System objects, including new discoveries, with preliminary orbital solutions and individual epoch observations are part of this release. Reflectance spectra derived from the epoch BPRP spectral data are published for about 60\,000 asteroids. Finally, an additional data set is provided, namely the Gaia Andromeda Photometric Survey (abridged)

Every population of small bodies in the Solar system contains a sizable fraction of multiple systems. Among these, the Jupiter Trojans have the lowest number of known binary systems and the least characterized. We aim at characterizing the reported binary system (17365) Thymbraeus, one of the only seven multiple systems known among Jupiter Trojans. We conducted light curves observing campaigns in 2013, 2015, and 2021 with ground-based telescopes. We model these lightcurves using dumbbell equilibrium figures. We show that Thymbraeus is unlikely a binary system. Its light curves are fully consistent with a bilobated shape: a dumbbell equilibrium figure. We determine a low density of 830 +/- 50 kg.m-3 , consistent with the reported density of other Jupiter Trojan asteroids and small Kuiper-belt objects. The angular velocity of Thymbraeus is close to fission. If separated, its components would become a similarly-sized double asteroid such as the other Jupiter Trojan (617) Patroclus.

Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3) provides a wealth of new data products for the astronomical community to exploit, including astrophysical parameters for a half billion stars. In this work we demonstrate the high quality of these data products and illustrate their use in different astrophysical contexts. We query the astrophysical parameter tables along with other tables in Gaia DR3 to derive the samples of the stars of interest. We validate our results by using the Gaia catalogue itself and by comparison with external data. We have produced six homogeneous samples of stars with high quality astrophysical parameters across the HR diagram for the community to exploit. We first focus on three samples that span a large parameter space: young massive disk stars (~3M), FGKM spectral type stars (~3M), and UCDs (~20K). We provide these sources along with additional information (either a flag or complementary parameters) as tables that are made available in the Gaia archive. We furthermore identify 15740 bone fide carbon stars, 5863 solar-analogues, and provide the first homogeneous set of stellar parameters of the Spectro Photometric Standard Stars. We use a subset of the OBA sample to illustrate its usefulness to analyse the Milky Way rotation curve. We then use the properties of the FGKM stars to analyse known exoplanet systems. We also analyse the ages of some unseen UCD-companions to the FGKM stars. We additionally predict the colours of the Sun in various passbands (Gaia, 2MASS, WISE) using the solar-analogue sample.

The third data release by the Gaia mission of the European Space (DR3) is the first release to provide the community with a large sample of observations for more than 150 thousand Solar System objects, including asteroids and natural planetary satellites. The release contains astrometry (over 23 million epochs) and photometry, along with average reflectance spectra of 60518 asteroids and osculating elements. We present an overview of the procedures that have been implemented over several years of development and tests to process Solar System data at the level of accuracy that Gaia can reach. We illustrate the data properties and potential with some practical examples. In order to allow the users of DR3 to best exploit the data, we explain the assumptions and approaches followed in the implementation of the data processing pipeline for Solar System processing, and their effects in terms of data filtering, optimisation, and performances. We then test the data quality by analysing post-fit residuals to adjusted orbits, the capacity of detecting subtle dynamical effects (wobbling due to satellites or shape and Yarkovsky acceleration), and to reproduce known properties of asteroid photometry (phase curves and rotational light curves). The DR3 astrometric accuracy is a clear improvement over the data published in DR2, which concerned a very limited sample of asteroids. The performance of the data reduction is met, and is illustrated by the capacity of detecting milliarcsecond-level wobbling of the asteroid photocentre that is due to satellite or shape effects and contributes to Yarkovsky effect measurements. The third data release can in terms of data completeness and accuracy be considered the first full-scale realisation of the Solar System survey by Gaia.

Context. The third Gaia data release provides photometric time series covering 34 months for about 10 million stars. For many of those stars, a characterisation in Fourier space and their variability classification are also provided. This paper focuses on intermediate- to high-mass (IHM) main sequence pulsators (M >= 1.3 M-circle dot) of spectral types O, B, A, or F, known as beta Cep, slowly pulsating B (SPB), delta Sct, and gamma Dor stars. These stars are often multi-periodic and display low amplitudes, making them challenging targets to analyse with sparse time series. Aims. We investigate the extent to which the sparse Gaia DR3 data can be used to detect OBAF-type pulsators and discriminate them from other types of variables. We aim to probe the empirical instability strips and compare them with theoretical predictions. The most populated variability class is that of the delta Sct variables. For these stars, we aim to confirm their empirical period-luminosity (PL) relation, and verify the relation between their oscillation amplitude and rotation. Methods. All datasets used in this analysis are part of the Gaia DR3 data release. The photometric time series were used to perform a Fourier analysis, while the global astrophysical parameters necessary for the empirical instability strips were taken from the Gaia DR3 gspphot tables, and the v sin i data were taken from the Gaia DR3 esphs tables. The delta Sct PL relation was derived using the same photometric parallax method as the one recently used to establish the PL relation for classical Cepheids using Gaia data. Results. We show that for nearby OBAF-type pulsators, the Gaia DR3 data are precise and accurate enough to pinpoint them in the HertzsprungRussell (HR) diagram. We find empirical instability strips covering broader regions than theoretically predicted. In particular, our study reveals the presence of fast rotating gravity-mode pulsators outside the strips, as well as the co-existence of rotationally modulated variables inside the strips as reported before in the literature. We derive an extensive period-luminosity relation for ffi Sct stars and provide evidence that the relation features di fferent regimes depending on the oscillation period. We demonstrate how stellar rotation attenuates the amplitude of the dominant oscillation mode of ffi Sct stars. Conclusions. The Gaia DR3 time-series photometry already allows for the detection of the dominant (non-)radial oscillation mode in about 100 000 intermediate- and high-mass dwarfs across the entire sky. This detection capability will increase as the time series becomes longer, allowing the additional delivery of frequencies and amplitudes of secondary pulsation modes.

Gaia's readout window strategy is challenged by very dense fields in the sky. Therefore, in addition to standard Gaia observations, full Sky Mapper (SM) images were recorded for nine selected regions in the sky. A new software pipeline exploits these Service Interface Function (SIF) images of crowded fields (CFs), making use of the availability of the full two-dimensional (2D) information. This new pipeline produced half a million additional Gaia sources in the region of the omega Centauri ($\omega$ Cen) cluster, which are published with this Focused Product Release. We discuss the dedicated SIF CF data reduction pipeline, validate its data products, and introduce their Gaia archive table. Our aim is to improve the completeness of the {\it Gaia} source inventory in a very dense region in the sky, $\omega$ Cen. An adapted version of {\it Gaia}'s Source Detection and Image Parameter Determination software located sources in the 2D SIF CF images. We validated the results by comparing them to the public {\it Gaia} DR3 catalogue and external Hubble Space Telescope data. With this Focused Product Release, 526\,587 new sources have been added to the {\it Gaia} catalogue in $\omega$ Cen. Apart from positions and brightnesses, the additional catalogue contains parallaxes and proper motions, but no meaningful colour information. While SIF CF source parameters generally have a lower precision than nominal {\it Gaia} sources, in the cluster centre they increase the depth of the combined catalogue by three magnitudes and improve the source density by a factor of ten. This first SIF CF data publication already adds great value to the {\it Gaia} catalogue. It demonstrates what to expect for the fourth {\it Gaia} catalogue, which will contain additional sources for all nine SIF CF regions.

The Gaia DR3 Catalogue contains for the first time about eight hundred thousand solutions with either orbital elements or trend parameters for astrometric, spectroscopic and eclipsing binaries, and combinations of them. This paper aims to illustrate the huge potential of this large non-single star catalogue. Using the orbital solutions together with models of the binaries, a catalogue of tens of thousands of stellar masses, or lower limits, partly together with consistent flux ratios, has been built. Properties concerning the completeness of the binary catalogues are discussed, statistical features of the orbital elements are explained and a comparison with other catalogues is performed. Illustrative applications are proposed for binaries across the H-R diagram. The binarity is studied in the RGB/AGB and a search for genuine SB1 among long-period variables is performed. The discovery of new EL CVn systems illustrates the potential of combining variability and binarity catalogues. Potential compact object companions are presented, mainly white dwarf companions or double degenerates, but one candidate neutron star is also presented. Towards the bottom of the main sequence, the orbits of previously-suspected binary ultracool dwarfs are determined and new candidate binaries are discovered. The long awaited contribution of Gaia to the analysis of the substellar regime shows the brown dwarf desert around solar-type stars using true, rather than minimum, masses, and provides new important constraints on the occurrence rates of substellar companions to M dwarfs. Several dozen new exoplanets are proposed, including two with validated orbital solutions and one super-Jupiter orbiting a white dwarf, all being candidates requiring confirmation. Beside binarity, higher order multiple systems are also found.

The third Gaia Data Release (DR3) provided photometric time series of more than 2 million long-period variable (LPV) candidates. Anticipating the publication of full radial-velocity (RV) in DR4, this Focused Product Release (FPR) provides RV time series for a selection of LPVs with high-quality observations. We describe the production and content of the Gaia catalog of LPV RV time series, and the methods used to compute variability parameters published in the Gaia FPR. Starting from the DR3 LPVs catalog, we applied filters to construct a sample of sources with high-quality RV measurements. We modeled their RV and photometric time series to derive their periods and amplitudes, and further refined the sample by requiring compatibility between the RV period and at least one of the $G$, $G_{\rm BP}$, or $G_{\rm RP}$ photometric periods. The catalog includes RV time series and variability parameters for 9\,614 sources in the magnitude range $6\lesssim G/{\rm mag}\lesssim 14$, including a flagged top-quality subsample of 6\,093 stars whose RV periods are fully compatible with the values derived from the $G$, $G_{\rm BP}$, and $G_{\rm RP}$ photometric time series. The RV time series contain a mean of 24 measurements per source taken unevenly over a duration of about three years. We identify the great most sources (88%) as genuine LPVs, with about half of them showing a pulsation period and the other half displaying a long secondary period. The remaining 12% consists of candidate ellipsoidal binaries. Quality checks against RVs available in the literature show excellent agreement. We provide illustrative examples and cautionary remarks. The publication of RV time series for almost 10\,000 LPVs constitutes, by far, the largest such database available to date in the literature. The availability of simultaneous photometric measurements gives a unique added value to the Gaia catalog (abridged)

Context. Gaia’s readout window strategy is challenged by very dense fields in the sky. Therefore, in addition to standard Gaia observations, full Sky Mapper (SM) images were recorded for nine selected regions in the sky. A new software pipeline exploits these Service Interface Function (SIF) images of crowded fields (CFs), making use of the availability of the full two-dimensional (2D) information. This new pipeline produced half a million additional Gaia sources in the region of the omega Centauri (ω Cen) cluster, which are published with this Focused Product Release. We discuss the dedicated SIF CF data reduction pipeline, validate its data products, and introduce their Gaia archive table. Aims. Our aim is to improve the completeness of the Gaia source inventory in a very dense region in the sky, ω Cen. Methods. An adapted version of Gaia’s Source Detection and Image Parameter Determination software located sources in the 2D SIF CF images. These source detections were clustered and assigned to new SIF CF or existing Gaia sources by Gaia s cross-match software. For the new sources, astrometry was calculated using the Astrometric Global Iterative Solution software, and photometry was obtained in the Gaia DR3 reference system. We validated the results by comparing them to the public Gaia DR3 catalogue and external Hubble Space Telescope data. Results. With this Focused Product Release, 526 587 new sources have been added to the Gaia catalogue in ω Cen. Apart from positions and brightnesses, the additional catalogue contains parallaxes and proper motions, but no meaningful colour information. While SIF CF source parameters generally have a lower precision than nominal Gaia sources, in the cluster centre they increase the depth of the combined catalogue by three magnitudes and improve the source density by a factor of ten. Conclusions. This first SIF CF data publication already adds great value to the Gaia catalogue. It demonstrates what to expect for the fourth Gaia catalogue, which will contain additional sources for all nine SIF CF regions.

With the most recent Gaia data release the number of sources with complete 6D phase space information (position and velocity) has increased to well over 33 million stars, while stellar astrophysical parameters are provided for more than 470 million sources, in addition to the identification of over 11 million variable stars. Using the astrophysical parameters and variability classifications provided in Gaia DR3, we select various stellar populations to explore and identify non-axisymmetric features in the disc of the Milky Way in both configuration and velocity space. Using more about 580 thousand sources identified as hot OB stars, together with 988 known open clusters younger than 100 million years, we map the spiral structure associated with star formation 4-5 kpc from the Sun. We select over 2800 Classical Cepheids younger than 200 million years, which show spiral features extending as far as 10 kpc from the Sun in the outer disc. We also identify more than 8.7 million sources on the red giant branch (RGB), of which 5.7 million have line-of-sight velocities, allowing the velocity field of the Milky Way to be mapped as far as 8 kpc from the Sun, including the inner disc. The spiral structure revealed by the young populations is consistent with recent results using Gaia EDR3 astrometry and source lists based on near infrared photometry, showing the Local (Orion) arm to be at least 8 kpc long, and an outer arm consistent with what is seen in HI surveys, which seems to be a continuation of the Perseus arm into the third quadrant. Meanwhile, the subset of RGB stars with velocities clearly reveals the large scale kinematic signature of the bar in the inner disc, as well as evidence of streaming motions in the outer disc that might be associated with spiral arms or bar resonances. (abridged)

Context. The motion of stars has been used to reveal details of the complex history of the Milky Way, in constant interaction with its environment. Nevertheless, to reconstruct the Galactic history puzzle in its entirety, the chemo-physical characterisation of stars is essential. Previous Gaia data releases were supported by a smaller, heterogeneous, and spatially biased mixture of chemical data from ground-based observations. Aims. Gaia Data Release 3 opens a new era of all-sky spectral analysis of stellar populations thanks to the nearly 5.6 million stars observed by the Radial Velocity Spectrometer (RVS) and parametrised by the GSP-Spec module. In this work, we aim to demonstrate the scientific quality of Gaia's Milky Way chemical cartography through a chemo-dynamical analysis of disc and halo populations. Methods. Stellar atmospheric parameters and chemical abundances provided by Gaia DR3 spectroscopy are combined with DR3 radial velocities and EDR3 astrometry to analyse the relationships between chemistry and Milky Way structure, stellar kinematics, and orbital parameters. Results. The all-sky Gaia chemical cartography allows a powerful and precise chemo-dynamical view of the Milky Way with unprecedented spatial coverage and statistical robustness. First, it reveals the strong vertical symmetry of the Galaxy and the flared structure of the disc. Second, the observed kinematic disturbances of the disc - seen as phase space correlations - and kinematic or orbital substructures are associated with chemical patterns that favour stars with enhanced metallicities and lower [alpha/Fe] abundance ratios compared to the median values in the radial distributions. This is detected both for young objects that trace the spiral arms and older populations. Several alpha, iron-peak elements and at least one heavy element trace the thin and thick disc properties in the solar cylinder. Third, young disc stars show a recent chemical impoverishment in several elements. Fourth, the largest chemo-dynamical sample of open clusters analysed so far shows a steepening of the radial metallicity gradient with age, which is also observed in the young field population. Finally, the Gaia chemical data have the required coverage and precision to unveil galaxy accretion debris and heated disc stars on halo orbits through their [alpha/Fe] ratio, and to allow the study of the chemo-dynamical properties of globular clusters. Conclusions. Gaia DR3 chemo-dynamical diagnostics open new horizons before the era of ground-based wide-field spectroscopic surveys. They unveil a complex Milky Way that is the outcome of an eventful evolution, shaping it to the present day.

Gaia Data Release 3 provides novel flux-calibrated low-resolution spectrophotometry for about 220 million sources in the wavelength range 330nm - 1050nm (XP spectra). Synthetic photometry directly tied to a flux in physical units can be obtained from these spectra for any passband fully enclosed in this wavelength range. We describe how synthetic photometry can be obtained from XP spectra, illustrating the performance that can be achieved under a range of different conditions - for example passband width and wavelength range - as well as the limits and the problems affecting it. Existing top-quality photometry can be reproduced within a few per cent over a wide range of magnitudes and colour, for wide and medium bands, and with up to millimag accuracy when synthetic photometry is standardised with respect to these external sources. Some examples of potential scientific application are presented, including the detection of multiple populations in globular clusters, the estimation of metallicity extended to the very metal-poor regime, and the classification of white dwarfs. A catalogue providing standardised photometry for ~220 million sources in several wide bands of widely used photometric systems is provided (Gaia Synthetic Photometry Catalogue; GSPC) as well as a catalogue of $\simeq 10^5$ white dwarfs with DA/non-DA classification obtained with a Random Forest algorithm (Gaia Synthetic Photometry Catalogue for White Dwarfs; GSPC-WD).