Abstract
The Space Interferometry Mission (SIM) spacecraft will be used to measure the proper motions for a sample of ∼30 nearby galaxies. At this time there are no proper motion measurements of galaxies beyond the satellite systems of the Milky Way. With the capability of measuring absolute positions to 4 μas (microarcsecond) accuracy and a five-year baseline, SIM will be able to measure proper motions as small as 10 km/s over the Local Group and 40 km/s at 4 Mpc. The motion of each galaxy will be monitored by targeting 5-10 stars that are brighter than 20th magnitude. SIM measurements will lead to knowledge of the full 6-dimensional position and velocity of each galaxy. In conjunction with gravitational flow modeling, improved total mass measurements of individual galaxies and the fractional contribution of dark matter to galaxies of the Local Group will be obtained. The project includes development of theoretical methods for orbital calculations.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 120-130 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering |
| Volume | 4852 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2002 |
| Event | Interferometry in Space - Waikoloa, HI, United States Duration: Aug 26 2002 → Aug 28 2002 |
Keywords
- Dynamics
- Galaxies
- Numerical simulations
- Proper motions
- SIM
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Computer Science Applications
- Applied Mathematics
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering