Absolute Proper Motion of the Fornax Dwarf Spheroidal

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Hst Proposal Id #8739 Stellar Populations

Scientific paper

We propose to measure the absolute proper motion of the Fornax dwarf spheriodal using HST archived images as second-epoch material, and a combination of Palomar 200-inch and Du Pont 100-inch photographic plates as a first and intermediate epoch respectively. This project is motivated by the large number of fields taken with WFPC2 between 1994 and 1999 in the area of the Fornax dwarf, primarily targeted at Fornax globular clusters. In addition to these data, the archive contains WFPC2 parallel data as well as a field with a QSO. For our first epoch we have the plate material that provides an excellent time baseline {up to 50 years} at a plate scale that allows high-precision astrometry for relatively crowded fields. We estimate to obtain a proper-motion error between 0.05 and 0.09 mas yr^-1, a value that depends primarily on the number of extragalactic objects found on all of the WFPC2 fields, at the limiting magnitude of the plate material {B 22.5}. This proper-motion accuracy will provide tangential velocities of uncertainties between 30 and 54 km s^-1, which will 1} obtain a dynamical estimate of the mass of the Galaxy as derived from one of the very distant satellites and, 2} allow the study of the orbital parameters of the Fornax dwarf and therefore test its kinematical association with the Fornax-Leo-Sculptor stream proposed by Lynden-Bell.

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