Related papers: Hubble Astrometry for the Local Group and Beyond i…
High-precision astrometry throughout the Local Group is a unique capability of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), with potential for transformative science, including constraining the nature of dark matter, probing the epoch of reionization,…
The most irreplaceable capability of HST in the 2030s is not only its angular resolution or its UV--optical sensitivity, but its accumulated time baseline. We recommend a Hubble Local Group Astrometric Legacy that would obtain matched 2030s…
An 8 m successor to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) would make incredible gains in the study of stellar populations, especially in the Local Group. If diffraction-limited at 0.5 microns, the "Next HST" could produce high-resolution imaging…
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has proven to be uniquely suited for the measurement of proper motions (PMs) of stars and galaxies in the nearby Universe. Here we summarize the main results and ongoing studies of the HSTPROMO…
Our knowledge of the dynamics and masses of galaxies in the Local Group has long been limited by the fact that only line-of-sight velocities were observationally accessible. This introduces significant degeneracies in dynamical models,…
Astrometric calibration of images with a small field of view is often inferior to the internal accuracy of the source detections due to the small number of accessible guide stars. One important experiment with such challenges is the Hubble…
One of the most exciting and pressing issues in cosmology today is the discrepancy between some measurements of the local Hubble constant and other values of the expansion rate inferred from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation.…
In recent years the census of known satellites in our own Local Group and in nearby galaxy groups has increased substantially due to sensitive wide-area surveys. In the Local Group these surveys have more than doubled its known galaxy…
The stable environment of space makes HST an excellent astrometric tool. Its diffraction-limited resolution allows it to distinguish and measure positions and fluxes for stars all the way to the center of most globular clusters. Apart from…
Deep color magnitude diagrams extending to the main sequence provide the most direct measure of the detailed star formation history in a stellar population. With large investments of observing time, HST can obtain such data for populations…
Recent advances with the VLBA have resulted in ~10 micro-arcsec astrometry for compact sources in external galaxies, and measurement of the proper motion of Local Group galaxies has been demonstrated. With improved telescopes and equipment,…
Halometry---mapping out the spectrum, location, and kinematics of nonluminous structures inside the Galactic halo---can be realized via variable weak gravitational lensing of the apparent motions of stars and other luminous background…
Stellar halos around galaxies retain fundamental evidence of the processes which lead to their build up. Sophisticated models of galaxy formation in a cosmological context yield quantitative predictions about various observable…
The Hubble Space Telescope (HST), in its thirteen years of operation, has allowed us to observe properties of the universe humans have been able, until very recently, to probe only with their thoughts. This review presents a brief summary…
In November 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) returned deep near-infrared images of Abell 2744 -- a powerful lensing cluster capable of magnifying distant, incipient galaxies beyond it. Together with the existing Hubble Space…
Massive stars play a fundamental role in shaping the evolution of galaxies through feedback, chemical enrichment, and their end products as neutron stars and black holes. Despite major progress in the last decade, key uncertainties remain…
Near-field cosmology -- using detailed observations of the Local Group and its environs to study wide-ranging questions in galaxy formation and dark matter physics -- has become a mature and rich field over the past decade. There are…
The varied and dynamic evolutionary histories of galaxies give rise to the stunning diversity in their properties that we observe in the present-day universe. HST, and now JWST, have pioneered the study of resolved individual stars in the…
In spite of great progress over the last $\sim 10$ years, especially thanks to HST, a number of exciting open problem still puzzle astronomers working on globular clusters in our own and other galaxies. These problems range from determining…
The spatial distribution and lifetime of molecular gas in the inner regions of young circumstellar disks are key to understanding the formation of planetary systems. Gas-rich disks are observed to disperse in the first ~10 Myr, and recent…