VLBA13B-009

Proper Motion Confirmation of Black Holes in a Globular Cluster

Abstract

We have discovered two candidate accreting stellar-mass black holes in a globular cluster using deep VLA continuum imaging. If confirmed, these would be the first black holes known in a Milky Way globular cluster. Here we propose two-epoch HSA astrometry of the candidates to determine if their proper motions are consistent with the known proper motion of the globular cluster. These data can definitively confirm or refute the association of the objects with the cluster and thus the black hole interpretation.

Investigators

Name	Institution
Adam Deller	Swinburne University of Technology
Walter Brisken	National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Anil Seth	Utah, University of
Tom Maccarone	Texas Tech University
James Miller-Jones	Curtin University of Technology
Laura Chomiuk	Michigan State University
Jay Strader *	Michigan State University

* indicates the PI