Horizontal Branch Stars: The Interplay between Observations and Theory, and Insights into the Formation of the Galaxy

We review HB stars in a broad astrophysical context, including both variable and non-variable stars. A reassessment of the Oosterhoff dichotomy is presented, which provides unprecedented detail regarding its origin and systematics. We show that the Oosterhoff dichotomy and the distribution of globular clusters (GCs) in the HB morphology-metallicity plane both exclude, with high statistical significance, the possibility that the Galactic halo may have formed from the accretion of dwarf galaxies resembling present-day Milky Way satellites such as Fornax, Sagittarius, and the LMC. A rediscussion of the second-parameter problem is presented. A technique is proposed to estimate the HB types of extragalactic GCs on the basis of integrated far-UV photometry. The relationship between the absolute V magnitude of the HB at the RR Lyrae level and metallicity, as obtained on the basis of trigonometric parallax measurements for the star RR Lyrae, is also revisited, giving a distance modulus to the LMC of (m-M)_0 = 18.44+/-0.11. RR Lyrae period change rates are studied. Finally, the conductive opacities used in evolutionary calculations of low-mass stars are investigated. [ABRIDGED]Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Scienc

Astrometry of Large Sky Surveys

One of the major uses of the Large Sky Surveys such as the Palomar and SERC Schmidt Surveys is the derivation of positions for faint objects discovered in the course of other surveys. The HST Guide Star Catalogue has proved to be of great help in deriving positions for such objects, but the well-known, and unavoidable, systematic errors in the GSC positions limit the accuracy of the final positions. In this Review, we will describe techniques that can be used to successfully transfer a reference frame from the bright FK5 stars to the small confines of a CCD chip containing only faint objects with the goal of maintaining an accuracy of approximately 0.1 arcsecond in the final positions.</jats:p

The Yale-San Juan Southern Proper Motion Program (SPM)

The Southern Proper Motion Program (SPM) is described and progress in the execution of the second-epoch is outlined, as are the reduction methods. Recent changes in the instrumentation, including the addition of a computer control room to the astrograph building and the construction and operation of a new survey machine are discussed.</jats:p

Proper Motions in the Bulge: Looking Through Plaut's Low Extinction Window

We are conducting the deepest and largest photographic proper-motion survey ever undertaken of the Galactic bulge. Our first-epoch plate material (from 1972-3) goes deep enough (Vlim ∼ 22) to reach below the bulge main-sequence turnoff. These plates cover an area of approximately 25′ × 25′ of the bulge in the low-extinction (Av ∼ 0.8 mag) Plaut field at l= 0°, b= −8°, approximately 1 kpc south of the nucleus. This is the point at which the transition between bulge and halo populations likely occurs and is, therefore, an excellent location to study the interface between the dense metal-rich bulge and the metal-poor halo.</jats:p

Wading Through the Quagmire of Schmidt-Plate Coordinate Systematics

We attempted to quantify the magnitude-dependent systematics in a sample of Schmidt plates by comparison to positions from the Yale/San Juan Southern Proper Motion program which offers star positions and absolute proper motions down to B = 18 with a mean density of about 50 stars per square degree and a positional accuracy of 0.1″ (Platais et al. 1995).</jats:p

HST in Search of Binaries among Faint Members of the Hyades Cluster

The HST Astrometry Science Team is using the Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS) in the Transfer Function (TF) Scan mode to search for binaries among the faint members of the Hyades cluster. To date (March 1994), nine binaries have been discovered among 24 stars examined. The closest pair (total V=13.5) has a separation of 0.051 arcsec; the faintest (sep=0.287 arcsec) has magnitudes V=15.0 and 16.5; neither object posed a challenge to the capabilities of FGS. For another pair, two observations 152 days apart show a 13 deg change in position angle, indicating rapid orbital motion. One decade should suffice to define the orbit with angular dimensions of sub-millisecond of arc accuracy.Clearly, this work will soon permit mass determinations for low-luminosity members of the Hyades cluster. Moreover, information on the frequency of binaries will provide insight into the role of duplicity in star formation and in the dynamic evolution of the cluster. To be truly useful, a census of binaries in the Hyades (and other clusters) must ultimately reach cluster members fainter than those currently under investigation, requiring astrometry with sub-millisecond of arc accuracy at near-infrared wavelengths.</jats:p

Binary Star Astrometry with the Hubble Space Telescope: One Millisecond of ARC Accuracy and Beyond

We briefly review the concept of double star measurement with HST Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS) in the Transfer Function (TF) Scan mode and give results for three calibration binaries observed with FGS3. Agreement among multiple observations indicates an astrometric precision of 1 millisecond of arc (mas) per observation. We compare measured angular separations with ephemeris values from orbits based entirely on speckle observations. This comparison shows that the accuracy of binary-star astrometry with FGS3 in the TF-Scan mode is 1 mas per observation. Multiple observations can be expected to produce relative positions of binary components at sub-millisecond of arc accuracy.</jats:p