Precise Astrometry in the Core of the Globular Cluster 47 Tuc: A Complete Census of High-Velocity Stars

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Hst Proposal Id #6467 Stellar Populations

Scientific paper

Binary stars play an essential role during the late phases of the dynamical evolution of a globular cluster. They transfer energy to passing stars, and so can strongly influence the cluster evolution. Hard binaries are known to exist in cluster cores, e.g., in the form of millisecond pulsars. The presence of hard binaries may also be revealed by searching for the by- products of close encounters: high-velocity stars. Two such stars were serendipitously discovered in the core of 47 Tuc by Meylan et al. {1991}, and similar stars have since been detected by Pryor et al. {1994}. This represents the limit of the radial velocity data from the ground. If more progress is to be made in the search for high-velocity stars in 47 Tuc, it must be made by obtaining proper motions, a task for which only HST is suitable. We propose to continue {Cycle 5 observations are scheduled for the fall of 1995} to use WFPC2 to obtain deep U {F300W} images of the core of 47 Tuc at three different epochs over two years. This will allow us to measure differential proper motions to a 1-Sigma limit of 0.23 mas/yr - this corresponds to a 5-Sigma detection of all stars with velocities greater than 22 km/s. The choice of F300W will allow stars to be measured over the whole color-magnitude diagram, from the red-giant branch to well down the main sequence. Such a complete census will provide unique constraints on relaxation processes, collision and ejection rates, and velocity distribution, as a function of the stellar mass.

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