Direct measurement of ISM proper motion with image registration

Author(s)
M. Piecka, L. Posch, S. Meingast, S. Hutschenreuter, A. Rottensteiner, J. Alves
Abstract

To date, the quantification of the on-sky motion for interstellar clouds has relied on proxies such as young stellar objects (YSOs) and masers. We present the first direct measurement of an interstellar cloud proper motion using the VISTA Star Formation Atlas (VISIONS) multi-epoch infrared images of the Corona Australis star-forming region. Proper motions are extracted by tracking the morphology of extended structures in the cloud complex based on image registration techniques implemented in SimpleITK. Our determined values (μα* ∼ +15 mas yr−1, μδ ∼ −30 mas yr−1) are in good agreement with those obtained for YSOs and young stellar clusters in the region. This study demonstrates the potential of image registration for directly mapping the kinematics of nearby molecular clouds, opening a new window into the study of cloud dynamics.

Organisation(s)
Department of Astrophysics
Journal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Volume
702
ISSN
0004-6361
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202556622
Publication date
10-2025
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103003 Astronomy, 103004 Astrophysics
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space and Planetary Science
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/ff8f0907-30c8-466a-8510-63b7288c8c4d