Hubble Space Telescope Proper Motions along the Sagittarius Stream: I. Observations and Results for Stars in Four Fields

We present a multi-epoch Hubble Space Telescope (HST) study of stellar proper motions (PMs) for four fields spanning 200 degrees along the Sagittarius (Sgr) stream: one trailing arm field, one field near the Sgr dwarf spheroidal tidal radius, and two leading arm fields. We determine absolute PMs of dozens of individual stars per field, using established techniques that use distant background galaxies as stationary reference frame. Stream stars are identified based on combined color-magnitude diagram and PM information. The results are broadly consistent with the few existing PM measurements for the Sgr galaxy and the trailing arm. However, our new results provide the highest PM accuracy for the stream to date, the first PM measurements for the leading arm, and the first PM measurements for individual stream stars; we also serendipitously determine the PM of the globular cluster NGC~6652. In the trailing-arm field, the individual PMs allow us to kinematically separate trailing-arm stars from leading-arm stars that are 360 degrees further ahead in their orbit. Also, in three of our fields we find indications that two distinct kinematical components may exist within the same arm and wrap of the stream. Qualitative comparison of the HST data to the predictions of the Law & Majewski and Penarrubia et al. N-body models show that the PM measurements closely follow the predicted trend with Sgr longitude. This provides a successful consistency check on the PM measurements, as well as on these N-body approaches (which were not tailored to fit any PM data).

The Space Motion of Leo I: Hubble Space Telescope Proper Motion and Implied Orbit

We present the first absolute proper motion measurement of Leo I, based on two epochs of HST ACS/WFC images separated by ~5 years. The average shift of Leo I stars with respect to ~100 background galaxies implies a proper motion of (mu_W, mu_N) = (0.1140 +/- 0.0295, -0.1256 +/- 0.0293) mas/yr. The implied Galactocentric velocity vector, corrected for the reflex motion of the Sun, has radial and tangential components V_rad = 167.9 +/- 2.8 km/s and V_tan = 101.0 +/- 34.4 km/s, respectively. We study the detailed orbital history of Leo I by solving its equations of motion backward in time for a range of plausible mass models for the Milky Way and its surrounding galaxies. Leo I entered the Milky Way virial radius 2.33 +/- 0.21 Gyr ago, most likely on its first infall. It had a pericentric approach 1.05 +/- 0.09 Gyr ago at a Galactocentric distance of 91 +/- 36 kpc. We associate these time scales with characteristic time scales in Leo Is star formation history, which shows an enhanced star formation activity ~2 Gyr ago and quenching ~1 Gyr ago. There is no indication from our calculations that other galaxies have significantly influenced Leo Is orbit, although there is a small probability that it may have interacted with either Ursa Minor or Leo II within the last ~1 Gyr. For most plausible Milky Way masses, the observed velocity implies that Leo I is bound to the Milky Way. However, it may not be appropriate to include it in models of the Milky Way satellite population that assume dynamical equilibrium, given its recent infall. Solution of the complete (non-radial) timing equations for the Leo I orbit implies a Milky Way mass M_MW,vir = 3.15 (-1.36, +1.58) x 10^12 Msun, with the large uncertainty dominated by cosmic scatter. In a companion paper, we compare the new observations to the properties of Leo I subhalo analogs extracted from cosmological simulations.

The M31 Velocity Vector. I. Hubble Space Telescope Proper Motion Measurements

We present the first proper motion measurements for the galaxy M31. We obtained new V-band imaging data with the HST ACS/WFC and WFC3/UVIS of a spheroid field near the minor axis, an outer disk field along the major axis, and a field on the Giant Southern Stream. The data provide 5-7 year time baselines with respect to pre-existing deep first-epoch observations. We measure the positions of thousands of M31 stars and hundreds of compact background galaxies in each field. High accuracy and robustness is achieved by building and fitting a unique template for each individual object. The average proper motion for each field is obtained from the average motion of the M31 stars between the epochs with respect to the background galaxies. For the three fields, the observed proper motions (mu_W,mu_N) are (-0.0458, -0.0376), (-0.0533, -0.0104), and (-0.0179,-0.0357) mas/yr, respectively. The ability to average over large numbers of objects and over the three fields yields a final accuracy of 0.012 mas/yr. The robustness of the proper-motion measurements and uncertainties are supported by the fact that data from different instruments, taken at different times and with different telescope orientations, as well as measurements of different fields, all yield statistically consistent results. Papers II and III explore the implications for our understanding of the history, future, and mass of the Local Group. (Abridged)