Preparing for Gaia's Exoplanet Bonanza

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.