Nuclear star clusters have been proposed as a byproduct of galaxy formation, analogous to supermassive black holes, because their mass scales with host galaxy properties in a similar way as the (M_bh-sigma) and (M_bh-M_bulge) relationships. While the nuclear star cluster at the center of the Milky Way offers us an opportunity to study such a system with a level of detail not possible in external galaxies, this potential has not been realized due to the impracticality in obtaining wide-field, high angular resolution, and high precision kinematic measurements from the ground. We propose to use WFC3 on HST to measure, for the first time, the proper motions of stars out beyond the half-light radius of the cluster (~7 pc). These observations will allow us to derive three fundamental properties of the cluster that have been poorly constrained in the past: (1) the total mass, (2) the distribution of mass, and (3) the rotational signature of the cluster. The underlying mass distribution and total mass are requirements for placing the Milky Way nucleus in context with galaxy scaling relationships. The rotational profile will provide constraints on the origin of the nuclear star cluster, offering perhaps a physical explanation for the link between supermassive black holes and nuclear star clusters.

Our characterization of the nuclear star cluster will be conducted with both astrometric and three-filter photometric measurements. The Galactic center is optically obscured, therefore, all observations will be conducted with WFC3 in the near infrared. The specific requirements and exposure times for the astrometry and photometry are described below. Astrometry To achieve the science goals outlined in this proposal, we require a 3x3 mosaic with WFC3-IR to obtain complete azimuthal sampling out to 180" from the cluster center; this will enable a robust determination of the orientation of the cluster rotation as well as characterize the velocity anisotropy for mass modeling. In cycles 18, we will not include the central field (green box in Figure 2) as it was already approved in program GO-11671 (PI: Ghez). We will use the F153M medium band filter for astrometric measurements, because the broad-band H filter will saturate the bright stars (H < 11) before the first read. We estimate that with t_int=249 s using STEP50 readout pattern with 10 MULTIACCUM reads, we can efficiently achieve a SNR ~100 for H=18, which would be required for 1 mas astrometric precision (astrometric precision scales as 0.7 FWHM/SNR). This integration time and sampling mode requires 248 s to dump the WFC3 buffer, which can be done in parallel with the following exposure, thus minimizing readout overhead. Also importantly with this integration time, sources fainter than H=15 will be in no danger of saturation, ensuring that persistence will have minimal impact for most regions of the detector. Each field will be composed of 4 dithers in sub-pixel step sizes to sample the pixel phase of the PSF to account for the under-sampled PSF of WFC3. We require that the orientation of the mosaic be the same in each cycle in order to perform precise relative astrometry. The Orient special requirement should be 270 degrees to avoid duplicating Program 11671 and to optimally combine this dataset with the data taken with that program. We would also like the entire mosaic in F153M to be completed in 1 visit (5 orbits) in order to minimize drifts in the astrometry. To combine all fields, a 10" overlap between each field is necessary to include enough common stars to derive a robust transformation. Two additional fields adjacent to this mosaic (with a 10 arcsecond overlap) is observed to provide statistics on the number of bulge stars that may be present in our sample to gauge the effect of bulge contamination on our kinematic measurements of the cluster. The astrometric experiment will require 5 orbits in Cycle 18. Photometry We also propose to carry out narrow-band imaging in multiple filters with WFC3 during Cycle 18 to correct for the highly variable extinction in this region. This measurement is used to determine the number counts and to gauge the completeness of the sample. The colors will also allow us some discrimination of foreground and background sources, as well as dynamically unrelaxed young stars in this region. We choose to observe using the medium band continuum filters F127M, F139M, and F153M to measure the slope and magnitude of the spatially variable extinction, which requires ~3% photometry to achieve. In order to reach the required photometry precision, we require t_int = 449$ s for the F127M filter (using NSAMP = 14, with the STEP50 readout pattern), and t_int = 249 s for the F139M filter (using NSAMP = 10, with the STEP50 readout pattern). We can use the photometry from the F153M astrometric observations, so this filter will not need to be repeated. The photometry also requires 4 dithers in each field to sample the PSF. The photometric experiment will require a total of 11 orbits in Cycle 18, split into three visits. RESOLVED STELLAR POPULATIONS 12 false 0.0 0.0 false false false false SUPPORTED STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=9.7, H=7.2, K=6.0 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=9.7, H=7.2, K=6.0 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=9.5, H=8.6, K=8.3 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=9.5, H=8.6, K=6.8 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=9.5, H=8.6, K=6.8 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=9.7, H=7.2, K=6.0 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=9.7, H=7.2, K=6.0 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=9.7, H=7.2, K=6.0 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=9.7, H=7.2, K=6.0 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=9.1, H=7.5, K=6.7 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=11.0, H=10.0, K=8.1 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=11.0, H=10.0, K=8.1 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=10.9, H=9.8, K=8.3 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=9.1, H=7.5, K=6.7 STELLAR CLUSTER NUCLEUS This object was generated by the targetselector and retrieved from the SIMBAD database. J2000 17 45 40.0409 -29 00 28.12 J2000 J=9.1, H=7.5, K=6.7 WFC3/IR Imaging No No F139M WFC3/IR Imaging No No F127M WFC3/IR Imaging No No F153M WFC3/IR Imaging No No F153M WFC3/IR Imaging No No F153M POS-TARG DITHER 0.572 LINE 0.365 false true 74.653 4 18.528 WFC3-IR-DITHER-BOX-MIN 1 false The scheduling data was generated by CASM 18.3.1. CASM was run in Phase II mode. 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CASM was run in Phase II mode. Photometry in one of the calibration field for the characterization of the bulge population. 1297470022000 270.0 (Tic-Visit :proposal-id 12182 :visit-id "48" :proposal-version -1 :trans-version "20100505" :date "07-Jul-2010 17:16:33.0" :trans-errors '(:WARNINGS 0 :ERRORS 0 :HEALTH-AND-SAFETY 0 :FATAL-ERRORS 0 :CONTINUABLE-FATALS 0) :number-of-orbits 1 :saa-model "30" :si-bright-earth-limb-angle 20.0 :data-volume 1671264 :tdrss-contact-duration 0 :coron NIL ) (Tic-Obset :proposal-id 12182 :visit-id "48" :obset-id "48" :pcs-mode "FGS" ) (Tic-Orbit :proposal-id 12182 :visit-id "48" :orbit-number 1 :pcs-time 333 :si-vis-utilization 2868 :al-overhead-at-end 0 :internal-dur-at-end 673 :dark-offset NIL :dark-utilization 0 :max-dark-utilization 1920 :low-sky "N" :pcs-visibility 3257 :pcs-gap 0 ) true 1 0 The scheduling data was generated by CASM 18.3.1. CASM was run in Phase II mode. Astrometric fields. The orientation should be 270 in order to optimally combine with observations of the central field by HST in Cycle 17. Two adjacent fields to the north-east of the mosaic are used for calibration of the effect of bulge star contamination in the cluster kinematic measurements. The calibration fields were not in the original Phase I proposal, but they have been approved by the TTRB. 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