The HSTPROMO collaboration studies a set of related Hubble Space Telescope (HST) research projects, with overlapping sets of investigators, all aimed at improving our dynamical understanding of stars, clusters, and galaxies in the nearby Universe through measurement and interpretation of their proper motions (PMs).

Individual projects are pursued by traditional teams consisting of a Principal Investigator (PI) and select Co-Investigators (CoIs). HSTPROMO adds coherence to the overall effort, and provides a framework for sharing of techniques, expertise, models, and insights.

After more than 10 years of work, our collaboration has had 41 HST projects awarded in highly competitive peer-review, supported by 4.9 million dollars in NASA research funding. A total of 34 refereed papers have been completed, with many others in preparation. Our research results have been the topic of 9 press releases, a live-televised NASA press conference, and 2 Astronomy Picture of the Day images. It has been discussed by Nature Magazine, Scientific American, CNN TV, and many other media outlets around the world.

A brief summary of the main HSTPROMO projects and results can be found in van der Marel et al. (2014), which summarizes our work on globular clusters; young star clusters; stars and stellar streams in the Milky Way halo; Local Group galaxies, including dwarf satellite galaxies, the Magellanic Clouds, and the Andromeda galaxy; and AGN Black Hole Jets. A more extensive review of Local Group proper motion dynamics is presented in van der Marel (2014). Slides from a recent talk about some of these results can be found here.

(The HSTPROMO logo was designed by Elena Montuschi).

• Roeland van der Marel (STScI; dynamical research applications)
• Jay Anderson (STScI; data analysis methods)

Members

• Andrea Bellini (STScI; Globular clusters, PM data analysis)
• Gurtina Besla (U. of Arizona; Magellanic Clouds, Local Group dynamical modeling)
• Paolo Bianchini (Max Plack Institute fuer Astronomie, Heidelberg; Globular Clusters, dynamical modeling)
• Mike Boylan-Kolchin (U. of Maryland, College Park; Local Group, cosmological modeling)
• Julio Chaname (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; globular clusters, PM data analysis)
• Alis Deason (U. of California,Santa Cruz; Milky Way halo, dynamical modeling)
• Tuan Do (UCLA; Milky Way dSphs, PM data analysis)
• Mark Fardal (U. of Massachusetts; Local group theoretical dynamics, streams, N-body simulations)
• Puragra Guhathakurta (U. of California, Santa Cruz; M31, Milky Way halo, ground-based spectroscopy)
• Nitya Kallivayalil (U. of Virginia; Magellanic Clouds, PM data analysis, dynamical modeling)
• Danny Lennon (ESA, ESAC, Madrid; Young stars and star clusters)
• Davide Massari (U. of Groningen; Globular Clusters, PM data analysis)
• Eileen Meyer (U. of Maryland, Baltimore County; AGN jets, PM data analysis)
• Imants Platais (Johns Hopkins U.; Open clusters, PM data analysis)
• Elena Sabbi (STScI; Magellanic Clouds, Tarantula Nebula, stellar populations)
• Sangmo Tony Sohn (Johns Hopkins U.; Local Group galaxies, PM data analysis using background galaxies)
• Mario Soto (U. de Atacama; Globular clusters, Milky Way, PM data analysis)
• Michele Trenti (U. of Melbourne; Globular clusters, N-body modeling)
• Laura Watkins (STScI; Local Group, Globular clusters, dynamical modeling)

Associates/Advisors/Former Members

• Many other PIs and CoIs on individual projects, and co-authors on individual papers, as available through the links below.

Press Releases, Images, and Media Attention

• 2015: The Milky Way's Missing Mass: Partially Found
• 2015: Hubble Video Shows Shock Collision Inside Black Hole Jet (Hubblesite)
• 2014: Hubble Watches Stars' Clockwork Motion in Nearby Galaxy (Hubblesite)
• 2013: Astronomers create movie of M87's jet (Hubblesite)
• 2013: Stellar Motions in Outer Halo Shed New Light on Milky Way Evolution (Hubblesite)
• 2012: Galaxy Grande: Milky Way May Be More Massive Than Thought
• 2012: Milky Way on Collision Course with Andromeda Galaxy (APOD) (Hubblesite)
• 2012: Tarantula Nebula: Turbulent Star-making Region (APOD) (Hubblesite)
• 2010: Milky Way Sidelined in Galactic Tug-of-War
• 2010: Hubble Data Used to Look 10,000 Years into the Future (Hubblesite)
• 2010: Mystery Medium - Center of Omega Cen
• 2007: Magellanic Clouds Are First-Time Visitors
• 2007: The Proper Motion of the Magellanic Clouds

Videos

• 2015: Shock Collision Inside Black Hole Jet (HubbleHangout)
• 2014: The Rotation Rate of the Large Magellanic Cloud
• 2013: Zoom into and Proper Motion of M87 black hole jet
• 2012: Measuring the Drift of the Andromeda Galaxy
• 2012: N-body model of Milky Way-M31 collision (additional N-body runs.movies here)
• 2012: Nighttime Sky View of Future Galaxy Merger
• 2012: Scientists Reflect on Expected Collision Between the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy
• 2012: Crash of the Titans
• 2012: Milky Way-M31 collision NASA Press Conference (youtube video; 05/31/2012; 51 min.)
• 2012: Milky Way-M31 collision TV coverage
• 2010: Omega Centauri Observation Zoom Sequence and Future Star Motions
• 2010: Constructing the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram for Globular Star Cluster
• 2010: Omega Centauri: Delving into an Archeological Fossil of the Universe
• 2010: Formation of the Magellanic Stream through LMC/SMC interaction (Besla et al. 2010)

Refereed Papers

• The Effect of Unresolved Binaries on Globular Cluster Proper-Motion Dispersion Profiles (Bianchini et al. 2015, ApJL, submitted)
• Isotropic at the Break: 3D Kinematics of Milky Way Halo Stars in the Foreground of M31 (Cunningham et al. 2015, ApJ, submitted)
• Ram Pressure Stripping of the Large Magellanic Cloud's Disk as a Probe of the Milky Way's Circumgalactic Medium (Salem et al. 2015, ApJ, in press)
• An HST Proper-Motion Study of the Large Scale Jet of 3C273 (Meyer et al. 2015, ApJ, submitted)
• Hubble Space Telescope Proper Motion (HSTPROMO) Catalogs of Galactic Globular Clusters. III. Dynamical distances and mass-to-light ratios (Watkins et al. 2015, ApJ, 812, 149)
• The Hubble Space Telescope UV Legacy Survey of galactic globular clusters. VI. The internal kinematics of the multiple stellar populations in NGC 2808 (Bellini et al. 2015, ApJ Letters, 810, L13)
• A kiloparsec-scale internal shock collision in the jet of a nearby radio galaxy (Meyer et al. 2015, Nature, 521, 495)
• HST astrometry in the 30 Doradus region: measuring proper motions of individual stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud (Platais et al. 2015, AJ, 150, 89)
• Hubble Space Telescope Proper Motion (HSTPROMO) Catalogs of Galactic Globular Clusters. II. Kinematic profiles and maps (Watkins et al. 2015, ApJ, 803, 29)
• Hubble Space Telescope Proper Motion (HSTPROMO) Catalogs of Galactic Globular Clusters. I. Sample Selection, Data Reduction and NGC 7078 Results (Bellini et al. 2014, ApJ, 797, 115)
• Hubble Space Telescope Proper Motions along the Sagittarius Stream: I. Observations and Results for Stars in Four Fields (Sohn et al. 2015, ApJ, 803, 56)
• Third-Epoch Magellanic Cloud Proper Motions II: The Large Magellanic Cloud Rotation Field in Three Dimensions (van der Marel & Kallivayalil 2014, ApJ, 781, 121)
• Optical Proper Motion Measurements of the M87 Jet: New Results from the Hubble Space Telescope (Meyer et al. 2013, ApJL, 774, L21)
• HST Absolute Proper Motions of NGC 6681 and the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy (Massari et al. 2013, ApJ, 779, 81)
• No Energy Equipartition in Globular Clusters (Trenti & van der Marel, 2013, MNRAS, 435, 3272)
• Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project: Unraveling Tarantula's Web. I. Observational overview and first results (Sabbi et al. 2013, AJ, 146, 53)
• The Velocity Anisotropy of Distant Milky Way Halo Stars from Hubble Space Telescope Proper Motions (Deason et al. 2013, 766, 24)
• The Space Motion of Leo I: The Mass of the Milky Way's Dark Matter Halo (Boylan-Kolchin et al. 2013, ApJ, 768, 140)
• The Space Motion of Leo I: Hubble Space Telescope Proper Motion and Implied Orbit (Sohn et al. 2013, ApJ, 768, 139)
• Third-Epoch Magellanic Cloud Proper Motions I: HST/WFC3 data and Orbit Implications (Kallivayalil et al. 2013, 764, 161)
• The M31 Velocity Vector. III. Future Milky Way-M31-M33 Orbital Evolution, Merging, and Fate of the Sun (van der Marel et al. 2012, ApJ, 753, 9)
• The M31 Velocity Vector. II. Radial Orbit towards the Milky Way and Implied Local Group Mass (van der Marel et al. 2012, ApJ, 753, 8)
• The M31 Velocity Vector. I. Hubble Space Telescope Proper Motion Measurements (Sohn et al. 2012, ApJ, 753, 7)
• The role of dwarf galaxy interactions in shaping the Magellanic System and implications for Magellanic Irregulars (Besla et al. 2012, MNRAS, 421, 2109)
• Simulations of the Magellanic Stream in a First Infall Scenario (Besla et al. 2010, ApJ, 721, 97)
• New Limits on an Intermediate Mass Black Hole in Omega Centauri: II. Dynamical Models (van der Marel & Anderson 2010, ApJ, 710, 1063)
• New Limits on an Intermediate Mass Black Hole in Omega Centauri: I. Hubble Space Telescope Photometry and Proper Motions (Anderson & van der Marel 2010, ApJ, 710, 1032)
• Using Resolved Galaxies in Hubble Space Telescope Images to Measure Absolute Proper Motions (Mahmud & Anderson 2008, PASP, 120, 907)
• Constraining the Mass Profiles of Stellar Systems: Schwarzschild Modeling of Discrete Velocity Data Sets (Chaname et al. 2008, ApJ, 682, 841)
• M31 Transverse Velocity and Local Group Mass from Satellite Kinematics (van der Marel & Guhathakurta 2008, ApJ, 678, 187)
• Are the Magellanic Clouds on their First Passage about the Milky Way? (Besla et al. 2007, 668, 949)
• Is the SMC bound to the LMC? The HST proper motion of the SMC (Kallivayalil et al. 2006, ApJ, 652, 1213)
• The Proper Motion of the Large Magellanic Cloud using HST (Kallivayalil et al. 2006, ApJ, 638, 722)
• Toward High-Precision Astrometry with WFPC2. I. Deriving an Accurate Point-Spread Function (Anderson & King, 2000, PASP, 112, 1360)

Review Papers

• Local Group Proper Motion Dynamics (van der Marel 2014, in Proc. IAU Symp. 311)
• Local Group and Star Cluster Dynamics from HSTPROMO: The Hubble Space Telescope Proper Motion Collaboration (van der Marel et al. 2014, in ASP Conf. Series Vol. 480, p.43)

HST Projects

• 14343: Proper Motion and Internal Kinematics of the SMC: are the Magellanic Clouds bound to one another? - 2nd epoch observations (GO; PI: Kallivayalil; CoI list)
• 14322: Finding needles in haystacks: intermediate-mass black holes in Galactic globular clusters (Theory; PI: Watkins; CoI list)
• 14236: The First Proper Motions of Ultra-faint Dwarf Galaxies: Probing Reionization and Planar Associations of Satellites (GO; PI: Sohn; CoI list)
• 14235: Globular Cluster Orbits from HST Proper Motions: Constraining the Formation and Mass of the Milky Way Halo (GO; PI: Sohn; CoI list)
• 14159: Monitoring an Internal Shock Collision in Action in 3C 264 (GO; PI: Meyer; CoI list)
• 14158: Mapping the kpc-scale Velocity Structure of Jets with HST (GO; PI: Meyer; CoI list)
• 13834: The Proper Motion Field along the Magellanic Bridge: a New Probe of the LMC-SMC interaction (GO; PI: van der Marel; CoI list)
• 13771: Proper Motions of Isolated Massive Stars near the Galactic Center - 2nd epoch observations (GO; PI: Lennon; CoI list)
• 13770: Measuring the Milky Way Mass with the Proper Motion of Leo T - 2nd epoch observations (GO; PI: Do; CoI list)
• 13731: The Real Impact of Extragalactic Jets on Their Environments: Measuring the Advance Speed of Hotspots with HST (GO; PI: Meyer; CoI list)
• 13680: A 3D view of massive cluster formation in the SMC (GO; PI: Sabbi; CoI list)
• 13476: Proper Motion and Internal Kinematics of the SMC: are the Magellanic Clouds bound to one another? (GO; PI: Kallivayalil; CoI list)
• 13443: Proper Motions along the Orphan Stream: Finding the Parent, Orbit, and Milky Way Halo Shape (GO; PI: van der Marel; CoI list)
• 13359: Proper Motions of Massive Stars in 30 Doradus --- 2nd epoch observations (GO; PI: Lennon; CoI list)
• 13327: Proper Motions at 500 Mpc: Measuring Superluminal motions in Optical Jets with HST (GO; PI: Meyer; CoI list)
• 13272: Proper Motions of Distant Halo Stars: New Clues to Milky Way Structure, Evolution and Mass (AR; PI: van der Marel; CoI list)
• 12966: The Nature of Dark Matter: Halo Cusps or Cores from dSph internal proper motion dynamics (GO; PI: van der Marel; CoI list)
• 12915: Proper Motions of Isolated Massive Stars near the Galactic Center (GO; PI: Lennon; CoI list)
• 12914: Measuring the Milky Way Mass with the Proper Motion of Leo T (GO; PI: Do; CoI list)
• 12845: Hunting for Intermediate-Mass Black Holes: Archival Proper-Motion Analysis of Globular Clusters (AR; PI: Bellini; CoI list)
• 12656: The Ultimate Catalog of Omega Centauri: 15-band Photometry and Proper Motions (AR; PI: Anderson; CoI list)
• 12635: The Complete Velocity Field of the M87 Optical Jet (GO; PI: Sparks; CoI list)
• 12632: Modeling the Star Formation Histories and Kinematics of the Magellanic Clouds (GO; PI: Besla; CoI list)
• 12564: Proper Motions along the Sagittarius Stream: Constraining Milky Way Parameters and Dark Halo Shape (GO; PI: van der Marel; CoI list)
• 12499: Proper Motions of Massive Stars in 30 Doradus (GO; PI: Lennon; CoI list)
• 12274: Proper motion study of M54: an intermediate-mass black hole in the nucleus of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy? (GO; PI: van der Marel; CoI list)
• 12273: Mass of the Local Group from Proper Motions of Distant Dwarf Galaxies (GO; PI: van der Marel; CoI list)
• 12270: Proper Motion of Leo I: Constraining the Milky Way Mass (GO; PI: Sohn; CoI list)
• 12156: N-body modeling of globular clusters: detecting intermediate-mass black holes by non-equipartition in HST proper motions (Theory; PI: Trenti; CoI list)
• 11988: Searching for Intermediate Mass Black Holes in Globular Clusters via Proper Motions (GO; PI: Chandar; CoI list)
• 11801: Black Holes in Globular Clusters (GTO; PI: Ford; CoI list)
• 11730: Continued Proper Motions of the Magellanic Clouds: Orbits, Internal Kinematics, and Distance (GO; PI: Kallivayalil; CoI list)
• 11684: The First Proper Motion Measurement for M31: Dynamics and Mass of the Local Group (GO; PI: van der Marel; CoI list)
• 11609: NGC 6266: The Smoking Gun of Intermediate-Mass Black Holes in Galactic Globular Clusters? (GO; PI: Chaname; CoI list)
• 11201: Systemic and Internal motions of the Magellanic Clouds: Third Epoch Images (GO; PI: Kallivayalil; CoI list)
• 10841: A Proper Motion Search for Intermediate Mass Black Holes in Globular Clusters --- 2nd Epoch Observations (GO; PI: Chandar; CoI list)
• 10401: A Proper Motion Search for Intermediate Mass Black Holes in Globular Clusters (GO; PI: Chandar; CoI list)
• 10335: Black Holes in Globular Clusters (GTO; PI: Ford; CoI list)
• 10130: Systemic Proper Motions of the Magellanic Clouds from Astrometry with ACS: II. Second Epoch Images (SNAP; PI: Alcock; CoI list)
• 9952: Stellar Dynamical Models for HST Proper Motion Datasets (Theory; PI: van der Marel; CoI list)
• 9462: Systemic and Internal Proper Motions of the Magellanic Clouds from Astrometry with ACS (SNAP; PI: Alcock; CoI list)

Funding

• Support for individual HSTPROMO projects is provided by NASA through grants from by STScI, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-26555. Grants are awarded to individual investigator institutions. Grants to date have totalled $4.9M.