Astrometry with Hubble Space Telescope: A Parallax of the Central Star of the Planetary Nebula NGC 6853

Abstract

We present an absolute parallax and relative proper motion for the central star of the planetary nebula NGC 6853 (The Dumbell). We obtain these with astrometric data from FGS 3, a white-light interferometer on {\it HST}. Spectral classifications and VRIJHKT${}_2$M and DDO51 photometry of the stars comprising the astrometric reference frame provide spectrophotometric estimates of their absolute parallaxes. Introducing these into our model as observations with error, we find ${\pi }_{abs}=2.10\pm 0.48$ mas for the DAO central star of NGC 6853. A weighted average with a previous ground-based USNO determination yields ${\pi }_{abs}=2.40\pm 0.32$. We assume that the extinction suffered by the reference stars nearest (in angular separation and distance) to the central star is the same as for the central star. Correcting for color differences, we find $<$A${}_V>$ = 0.30 $\pm$ 0.06 for the central star, hence, an absolute magnitude M${}_V=5.48_{+0.15}^{-0.16}$. A recent determination of the central star effective temperature aided in estimating the central star radius, $R_{*}=0.055 \pm 0.02R_{\sun}$, a star that may be descending to the white dwarf cooling track.

arXiv commentTo appear in The Astronomical Journal, November 2003. CS absolute position (Table 2) changed to 2MASS position

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