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Andrei Alexandre Humberto - Gaia
Gaia contributors
Gaia was proposed in 1993 and since then, many people have been involved in the Gaia mission, whether at ESA, at industry side or at one of the institutes involved in the Gaia data processing. The Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) is a collaboration which consists of around 450 scientists and engineers.
The list of Gaia contributors presented here should not be considered a complete representation of the entire consortium and should not be considered as a list of currenly active people on the Gaia mission. A more complete list of Gaia contributors that were involved in the creation of the Gaia catalogues can be obtained from the author lists of the Gaia Collaboration overview papers (for Gaia Data Release 1 see here, for Gaia Data Release 2 see here, for Gaia Early Data Release 3 see here, for the full Gaia Data Release 3 see here, for Gaia Focused Product Release see here). A history of contributions to the Gaia mission can be found from the acknowledgements given with each data release.
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Alexandre Humberto Andrei (1955-2026) Observatorio Nacional / MCT |
Alexandre Humberto Andrei (1955-2026) was born in Niterói, Brazil. He graduated in Astronomy from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1976, obtained his master's degree from the University of São Paulo in 1982 and completed his PhD in Physics at the University of Cambridge (UK) in 1988. Over several decades, he combined scientific research with postgraduate teaching at the Observatorio Nacional (Brazil) and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, while building an extensive network of international collaborations.
His work covered a broad range of topics, from fundamental astrometry and celestial reference systems to solar studies and the tracking of artificial objects in space. Despite this diversity, a common thread ran through much of his scientific career: the precise measurement of positions and motions, and the construction of reliable reference systems for astronomy.
Alexandre was an early contributor to the Gaia mission. Within the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium, he led the CU3 work package responsible for compiling the Gaia Initial Quasar Catalogue. He was also an associate member of Gaia’s Relativity and Reference Frame Working Group, and a member the Ground-Based Optical Tracking Working Group.
Drawing on his long-standing expertise in optical and radio astrometry, Alexandre helped connect the traditional foundations of celestial reference systems with the new possibilities opened by Gaia. His contribution forms part of the scientific groundwork on which the mission was built and remains an important element of his legacy to the Gaia and wider astrometric communities.
Those who knew Alexandre remember him above all as a kind and decent person. The image that remains is of someone serene, always ready to begin again and embrace a new challenge.
He will be missed by his friends and colleagues throughout the Gaia and wider astronomical communities.
[Published: 09/01/2006 - Updated: 08/07/2026]
Gaia people archive
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