Context. The Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) contains the first release of radial velocities complementing the kinematic data of a sample of about 7 million relatively bright, late-type stars. Aims: This paper provides a detailed description of the Gaia spectroscopic data processing pipeline, and of the approach adopted to derive the radial velocities

This paper presents the specification, design, and development of the Radial Velocity Spectrometer (RVS) on the European Space Agency's Gaia mission. Starting with the rationale for the full six dimensions of phase space in the dynamical modelling of the Galaxy, the scientific goals and derived top-level instrument requirements are discussed

Context. The European Space Agency's Gaia satellite was launched into orbit around L2 in December 2013. This ambitious mission has strict requirements on residual systematic errors resulting from instrumental corrections in order to meet a design goal of sub-10 microarcsecond astrometry. During the design and build phase of the science instruments

Binary stars make up a significant portion of all stellar systems. Consequently, an understanding of the bulk properties of binary stars is necessary for a full picture of star formation. Binary surveys indicate that both multiplicity fraction and typical orbital separation increase as functions of primary mass. Correlations with higher-order

The Fornax cluster provides a uniquely compact laboratory in which to study the detailed history of early-type galaxies and the role played by the environment in driving their evolution and their transformation from late-type galaxies. Using the superb capabilities of the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer on the Very Large Telescope, high-quality

Far-infrared spectroscopy is a powerful tool complementing the potential of mid-infrared spectroscopy for the search and identification of organic molecules in space. The far-infrared spectra of a total of 29 amino acids are reported in this study. In addition to the spectra of 20 common proteinogenic amino acids, spectra of a selection of nine non