Hubble Astrometry for the Local Group and Beyond in the 2030s

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Sohn, S. Tony, Bennet, Paul, McKinnon, Kevin Andrew, van der Marel, Roeland P., Libralato, Mattia, Vitral, Eduardo, Patel, Ekta, Watkins, Laura L., del Pino, Andres, Bellini, Andrea, Griggio, Massimo, Fardal, Mark A., Kallivayalil, Nitya, Warfield, Jack T., Gilbert, Karoline M., Guhathakurta, Puragra, Weisz, Daniel, Wetzel, Andrew, Pace, Andrew B., Pawlowski, Marcel S., Simon, Joshua D., Besla, Gurtina, Tollerud, Erik, Ou, Xiaowei, Ahvazi, Niusha, Bonaca, Anna
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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_version_ 1866910250544660480
author Sohn, S. Tony
Bennet, Paul
McKinnon, Kevin Andrew
van der Marel, Roeland P.
Libralato, Mattia
Vitral, Eduardo
Patel, Ekta
Watkins, Laura L.
del Pino, Andres
Bellini, Andrea
Griggio, Massimo
Fardal, Mark A.
Kallivayalil, Nitya
Warfield, Jack T.
Gilbert, Karoline M.
Guhathakurta, Puragra
Weisz, Daniel
Wetzel, Andrew
Pace, Andrew B.
Pawlowski, Marcel S.
Simon, Joshua D.
Besla, Gurtina
Tollerud, Erik
Ou, Xiaowei
Ahvazi, Niusha
Bonaca, Anna
author_facet Sohn, S. Tony
Bennet, Paul
McKinnon, Kevin Andrew
van der Marel, Roeland P.
Libralato, Mattia
Vitral, Eduardo
Patel, Ekta
Watkins, Laura L.
del Pino, Andres
Bellini, Andrea
Griggio, Massimo
Fardal, Mark A.
Kallivayalil, Nitya
Warfield, Jack T.
Gilbert, Karoline M.
Guhathakurta, Puragra
Weisz, Daniel
Wetzel, Andrew
Pace, Andrew B.
Pawlowski, Marcel S.
Simon, Joshua D.
Besla, Gurtina
Tollerud, Erik
Ou, Xiaowei
Ahvazi, Niusha
Bonaca, Anna
contents Hubble's long, stable astrometric baseline creates a rare opportunity for discovery in the Local Group and beyond. Many nearby galaxies, streams, and star clusters already have archival first-epoch imaging in hand, so future HST observations over the next decade can turn those data into precise proper motions. For many Milky Way satellites, existing measurements already constrain orbital motion at a useful level, but HST still offers a path to full 3D kinematics, internal motions, and more distant systems where current data remain insufficient. That opens the window to dynamical studies inaccessible through line-of-sight velocities alone, revealing orbital histories, internal kinematics, environmental processing, and the dark-matter structure of nearby galaxies. This white paper identifies HST astrometry as an opportunity to capitalize on archival baselines by completing long-baseline measurements where first epochs already exist, establishing new first epochs where critical gaps remain, and assembling a legacy sample for future JWST, Roman, and HWO-era follow-up. The result will be a transformative dataset for the Local Group and Local Volume, driving discovery now while laying the groundwork for the next generation of dynamical studies for resolved stellar populations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_24191
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Hubble Astrometry for the Local Group and Beyond in the 2030s
Sohn, S. Tony
Bennet, Paul
McKinnon, Kevin Andrew
van der Marel, Roeland P.
Libralato, Mattia
Vitral, Eduardo
Patel, Ekta
Watkins, Laura L.
del Pino, Andres
Bellini, Andrea
Griggio, Massimo
Fardal, Mark A.
Kallivayalil, Nitya
Warfield, Jack T.
Gilbert, Karoline M.
Guhathakurta, Puragra
Weisz, Daniel
Wetzel, Andrew
Pace, Andrew B.
Pawlowski, Marcel S.
Simon, Joshua D.
Besla, Gurtina
Tollerud, Erik
Ou, Xiaowei
Ahvazi, Niusha
Bonaca, Anna
Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Hubble's long, stable astrometric baseline creates a rare opportunity for discovery in the Local Group and beyond. Many nearby galaxies, streams, and star clusters already have archival first-epoch imaging in hand, so future HST observations over the next decade can turn those data into precise proper motions. For many Milky Way satellites, existing measurements already constrain orbital motion at a useful level, but HST still offers a path to full 3D kinematics, internal motions, and more distant systems where current data remain insufficient. That opens the window to dynamical studies inaccessible through line-of-sight velocities alone, revealing orbital histories, internal kinematics, environmental processing, and the dark-matter structure of nearby galaxies. This white paper identifies HST astrometry as an opportunity to capitalize on archival baselines by completing long-baseline measurements where first epochs already exist, establishing new first epochs where critical gaps remain, and assembling a legacy sample for future JWST, Roman, and HWO-era follow-up. The result will be a transformative dataset for the Local Group and Local Volume, driving discovery now while laying the groundwork for the next generation of dynamical studies for resolved stellar populations.
title Hubble Astrometry for the Local Group and Beyond in the 2030s
topic Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.24191