10667(  1) - 04/05/05 12:27  - [  1]

    PROPOSAL FOR HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE OBSERVATIONS   ST ScI Use Only
                                                       ID:      10667
                                                       Version: 1
                                                       Check-in Date: 05-Apr-2005
                                                                      16:27:05

1.Proposal Title:
The Proper Motion and The Parallax of the Crab Pulsar
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2. Proposal For  3. Cycle  4. Parallel Pointing Tolerance
AR               14        <none>
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5. Investigators
                                                                                     Contact?
    PI: Dr. David L. Kaplan               Massachusetts Institute of Technology
   CoI: Dr. Shami Chatterjee              Harvard University                            N
   CoI: Dr. Jay Anderson                  Rice University                               N
   CoI: Dr. Bryan Gaensler                Harvard University                            N

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6. Abstract

The Crab pulsar is the prototypical young neutron star and is one of the most
studied extrasolar objects. It provides the foundation for our understanding of
pulsar spin-down, magnetospheric physics, and energy loss through relativistic
winds. With an indisputable supernova association and a known age, it is also an
ideal laboratory to study core-collapse supernovae and neutron star birth kicks, but
useful constraints on all of these questions require accurate distance and velocity
measurements. However, despite the preeminence of the Crab these quantities are
poorly known: the distance to the supernova remnant has been estimated with 30%
uncertainties and there are no direct measurements of the pulsar's distance, while
its proper motion has been estimated from a crude analysis of saturated HST data
spanning only two years. Here we propose to analyze the full set of existing
HST/WFPC2 data on the Crab pulsar, spanning seven years and using multiple filters.
We will fully characterize the measurement uncertainties, including the effects of
saturation, and determine a precise proper motion. We will also attempt to measure
an astrometric parallax to the source, or determine the minimum additional data
necessary to enable such a measurement.
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                                                10667(  1) - 04/05/05 12:27  - [  2]

            Summary Form for Proposal  10667

  Item                         Used in this proposal
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  Proposal Category            AR
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