8th to 13th March, 2026

Schloss Ringberg, Bavaria, Germany

Preparing for Gaia's Exoplanet Bonanza



A Ringberg workshop hosted by the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy



Overview

Exoplanet science will be transformed by the Gaia space telescope with the upcoming fourth data release (DR4). Time-epoch astrometry will allow exoplanets to be identified via the acceleration they impart on their host stars, with potentially many thousands of new planets detectable, as well as more massive brown dwarf and stellar companions. This will transform our understanding of exoplanet demographics and will open new scientific avenues for exploration. For example, Gaia will enhance the search for exoplanets around very young stars, providing new insights into planet formation and the evolution of planet populations, and it will identify new targets for direct imaging with current and future facilities. However, there will also be challenges: false-positives such as equal-mass stellar binaries (where the photometrically blended companions must be taken into account) must be carefully considered, and follow-up observations will be required to vet and confirm the wealth of new candidate companions. Given the sheer volume of planet discoveries, community coordination will be key to optimally using follow-up resources for validating and confirming the Gaia exoplanets.

We invite experts in astrometric exoplanet detection to join us at a conference well in advance of the Gaia DR4 release date, so as to prepare for DR4. Attendees are encouraged to discuss and present work using existing astrometric data, such as studies based on Hipparcos-Gaia accelerations and on the non-single star catalog, as well as preparatory efforts and plans for DR4. The work will be split ~50:50 between talks presenting these efforts, and breakout and discussion sections to encourage collaboration and community building. Together, we will prepare for the exciting range of exoplanet science that will be possible with Gaia DR4.

Programme

The workshop will run from Monday 9th March to Friday 13th March, and will also include a welcome reception on the evening of Sunday 8th March. Please find below a graphical program overview, and a detailed list of all sessions and talk titles.

Breakout Sessions

Currently planned breakout topics
Combining multiple detection methods
Occurrence rates & demographics
Planets in binaries
Planets in protoplanetary disks / young systems
Companions to brown dwarfs
Stellar models, mass estimates, equal mass binaries
Long-period planets
Spontaneous contributions

Monday 9th March

09:00 - 10:30 -- Talks 1
Introductory Remarks (SOC)
Alessandro Sozzetti: Exoplanet demographics and Gaia: Expectations for DR4, and Beyond
Anthony Brown: Gaia DR4 update and planned community resources
Kevin Schlaufman: Overcoming Astrophysical False Positives to Realizing the Full Potential of Gaia Astrometry for Exoplanet Science
William Thompson: Octofitter & Detecting Exoplanets with DR3
11:00 - 12:30 -- Talks 2
Sabine Reffert: Combining Hipparcos, Gaia DR3 and Proper Motion Anomalies with RV Constraints
Damien Ségransan: The historical CORALIE Planet Search Survey in the Gaia Era
Fabo Feng: Detecting Giant Planets through Synergy between Gaia Astrometry and Other Methods
Alexander Wallace: Three dimensional orbit fitting with RV and Gaia: prospects for DR4
Pop-up Introductions (2 minutes per person, only for those not presenting talks)
14:00 - 15:30 -- Breakout 1
Combining multiple detection methods (Domenico Barbato, Main Room)
Planets in binaries (Trent Dupuy, Green Room)
1600 - 17:30 -- Talks 3
Louise Nielsen: Chasing exoplanets around white dwarfs with Gaia
Tom Schiwy: combined fitting of Gaia DR4, Hipparcos, RVs and more
Trifon Trifonov: Modeling Hipparcos, Gaia DR4, and RV data with the Exo-Striker
zephyr penoyre: astrometric tools and challenges
Daniel Yahalomi: When One Planet Looks Like Two: Degeneracies and Demographics of Cool Gas Giants with Gaia DR4

Tuesday 10th March

09:00 - 10:30 -- Talks 4
Tsevi Mazeh: Statistical Evidence for Specific Angular Momentum Excess of Planet-Hosting Stars
Judah Van Zandt: The Brown Dwarf Desert Extends to 10 AU
Greg Gilbert: Exoplanet eccentricities as revealed by Gaia
Jackie Faherty: Brown Dwarf Companions and the Potential with Gaia
Caleb Lammers: Forecasts for Gaia's Exoplanet Yield
11:00 - 12:30 -- Talks 5
François Bouchy: Probing the outer region of transiting hot gas giants
Daniel Bayliss: Bridging the Gap - Connecting exoplanets from TESS to Gaia
Juan Espinoza-Retamal: Prospects to constrain the origins of short-period exoplanets with Gaia astrometry
Johanna Müller-Horn: Mapping the Brown Dwarf Desert with FEROS and Gaia
Ben Pennell: Companions to M dwarfs revealed by Gaia Astrometry
14:00 - 15:30 -- Breakout 2
Occurrence rates & demographics (Daniel Yahalomi, Main Room)
Companions to brown dwarfs (Daniella Bardalez Gagliuffi + Jackie Faherty)
1600 - 17:30 -- Talks 6
Célia Desgrange: Searching for the hidden companion in the planetary system GJ436 through RV, Gaia and DI
Kyle Franson: Imaging Giant Planets Around Young Accelerating Stars: DR4 Edition
Thomas Winterhalder: Pursuing Ice Line giants with Gaia DR4 & VLTI/GRAVITY+
Domenico Barbato: Beyond Gaia's horizon: a multi-technique path to exoplanetary demographics
Trent Dupuy: High-Precision Mass Measurements and the Substellar Boundary

Wednesday 11th March

09:00 - 10:30 -- Talks 7
Florian Destriez: A new population of giant planets around M dwarfs with Gaia
Daniella Bardalez Gagliuffi: 20pc accelerating stars and statistics
Qier An: Preparing for Gaia DR4: Unveiling Massive Substellar Companions Through Astrometric Acceleration
Dori Blakely: Dynamical mass constraints on transition disk perturbers with a composite absolute astrometry catalogue
William Balmer: Characterizing self-luminous planets with dynamical masses using JWST
11:00 - 12:30 -- Talks 8
Logan Pearce: Reflected Light Direct Detection with ELTs
Wolfgang Brandner: The quest for reflected-light exoplanets for Roman/CGI
Aneesh Baburaj: Wide Separation Planet Hosts might not be exactly Sun-like
Miguel Vioque: Planet formation in protoplanetary disks using Gaia
Iain Hammond: Imaging Gaia's Protoplanets with ELT/METIS
14:00 - 18:30 -- Free afternoon

Thursday 12th March

09:00 - 10:30 -- Talks 9 & Hands-On
Coryn Bailer-Jones: Component masses in stellar and substellar binaries in Gaia DR3 from astrometry and photometry
Kevin Hardegree-Ullman: Lessons Learned from Coordinated Follow-up from Kepler/K2/TESS, and Applications to Gaia
Alexander Venner: Resource Management with Resources that Manage: Intermediate-precision RVs and Gaia Exoplanet Follow-up
Hands-on session part I (lead: Damien Ségransan)
11:00 - 12:30 -- Hands-on session
Continue the hands-on, or move to a breakout room
14:00 - 15:30 -- Breakout 3
Long-period planets (Anthony Brown, room TBD)
Spontaneous contributions (room TBD)
16:00 - 17:30 Group Discussion
Community co-ordination for Gaia DR4

Friday 13th March

09:00 - 10:30 -- Breakout 4
11:00 - 12:00 -- Breakouts Reporting
Stellar models, mass estimates, equal mass binaries (Sabine Reffert, Green Room)
Planets in protoplanetary disks / young systems (Miguel Vioque, Blue Room)
12:00 - 12:30 -- Wrap-up and Closing Discussion
14:00 - 15:30 -- Bonus Breakout
A final chance to brainstorm new ideas, for those who don't have to dash off!

Participants

Confirmed participants: Alessandro Sozzetti, Alexander Venner, Alexander Wallace, Aneesh Baburaj, Anthony Brown, Ben Pennell, Caleb Lammers, Célia Desgrange, Clémence Fontanive, Coryn Bailer-Jones, Damien Ségransan, Daniel Bayliss, Daniel Yahalomi, Daniella Bardalez Gagliuffi, Domenico Barbato, Dori Blakely, Elisa Haas, Elisabeth Matthews, Fabo Feng, Florian Destriez, François Bouchy, Greg Gilbert, Iain Hammond, Jackie Faherty, Jan-Vincent Harre, Jess Speedie, Johanna Müller-Horn, Juan Espinoza-Retamal, Judah Van Zandt, Kevin Hardegree-Ullman, Kevin Schlaufman, Kyle Franson, Lauren Biddle, Logan Pearce, Louise Nielsen, Matthias Samland, Melissa Hobson, Miguel Vioque, Qier An, Sabine Reffert, Thomas Winterhalder, Tom Schiwy, Trent Dupuy, Trifon Trifonov, Tsevi Mazeh, William Balmer, William Thompson, Wolfgang Brandner, zephyr penoyre

Logistics

Location

The workshop will take place at Ringberg Castle, Bavaria, Germany, which overlooks the scenic Tegernsee. With space for roughly 50 participants on a secluded mountaintop, Ringberg is a cozy spot conducive to vibrant scientific discussion, brainstorming new ideas, feasting and merriment, and (if you dare) four-person chess. The full address is as follows:

Tagungsstätte Schloss Ringberg
Schloßstraße 20 D-83700 Reitrain
Bavaria
Germany

Schedule

The workshop will start at 09:00 on Monday, March 9th 2025, and finish at 16:00 on Friday, March 13th 2025. A full program will be available in due course

Costs

While there is no registration fee for the workshop, participants are responsible for their room and board at the castle. Due to the nature and style of the workshop, participants are expected to attend for the full week. The cost will be ~€850, which will include lodging and all meals and coffee breaks, as well as a workshop dinner on Thursday 12th March. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee are provided on-site.

Please note that dinner is not served on Sunday or Friday.

Accessibility

We are committed to providing an accessible environment for all participants. Ringberg is wheelchair accessible (see this page for more detailed information). If you need help or any other special arrangements, please don't hesitate to contact the organizers at gaiaexo2026@mpia.de.

Travel

By plane

We recommend flying to Munich Airport (MUC), as this is the nearest international airport to Ringberg. The easiest way to get to Ringberg from MUC is by train. Starting at Munich Airport, take the regional train (S-Bahn) line S1 or S8 to Munich Central Station. From Munich Central Station take the train to Tegernsee Station, and then a Taxi (see below). The total travel time from MUC to Ringberg Castle is around 2hr.

By train

The nearest train station to Ringberg is Tegernsee Station. From Tegernsee, you will need to get a taxi to the castle, which is a 15min drive away.

You can find train travel times by visiting the Deutsche Bahn (German rail) webpage. Train tickets can be bought on the Deutsche Bahn website in advance but we don't recommend the cheaper "saver" tickets as these apply to a specific train – you cannot use them on a different train if you have flight delays.

Taxis

Given the number of attendees arriving at the same time, a taxi reservation in advance via email is mandatory (Taxi Jasinski, taxi-jasinski@live.de). Nearer the event start date, we will share a spreadsheet for coordinating taxis between those who may be arriving/leaving at the same time.

By car

If you decide to rent a car and drive, you can follow the directions on the Ringberg website. Please bear in mind that depending on the snow conditions, you may need snow chains or a four-wheel drive vehicle. Car parking at the castle is free, and does not need to be pre-booked.

Visas

You may need to apply for a visa to enter Germany. See here for visa requirements. Feel free to contact the organisers if you need a letter of support.

Note: The visa regulations have changed for those travelling from many countries (including the US and UK) to the EU. For more information, see the ETIAS website.

Code of conduct

During the workshop, we require participants to follow the code of conduct for the workshop which can be found below. If you have any questions about the workshop, you can reach the organizing committee.

The organizers are dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment, abusive behavior, or intimidation of conference participants in any form. As such, we follow the European Astronomical Society Council (EAS) Ethics Statement and Guidelines for Good Practice and expect all participants to read and abide by their statements.

In addition to a general Code of Conduct and Ethics, all participants must agree with our collaboration policy: that is (1) to openly share their ideas, expertise, and interim results and (2) to respect the sensitivity of in-progress results that are shared at the conference. Participants are encouraged to discuss on-going projects, to change gears, and to start new collaborations. Any participant contributing significantly to a project can expect appropriate credit vessels (e.g., co-authorship).

We pledge to help the entire community follow the code of conduct, and to not remain silent when we see violations of the code of conduct. We will take action when members of our community violate this code such as notifying a workshop organizer or talking privately with the person. This code of conduct applies to all community situations online and offline, including the conference itself, mailing lists, forums, social media, social events associates with the conference, and one-to-one interactions.

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Attendees violating these rules may be asked to leave the event at the sole discretion of the conference organizers.