Astrometric Reconnaissance of Exoplanetary Systems (ARES). I. Methodology validation with HST point-source images of Proxima Centauri

Abstract

We present the first results of the Astrometric Reconnaissance of Exoplanetary Systems (ARES) project, aimed at validating and characterizing candidate exoplanets around the nearest systems using multi-epoch Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data. In this first paper, we focus on Proxima Centauri, leveraging archival and recent HST observations in point-source imaging mode. We refine the geometric-distortion calibration of the HST detector used, and develop a robust methodology to derive high-precision astrometric parameters by combining HST measurements with the Gaia DR3 catalog. We determine Proxima's position, proper motion, and parallax with uncertainties at the $\sim$0.4-mas, 50-$\mu$as yr$^{-1}$, and 0.2-mas level, respectively, achieving consistent results with what measured by Gaia within $\sim$1$\sigma$. We further investigate the presence of the candidate exoplanet Proxima c by analyzing the proper-motion anomaly derived from combining long-term HST-based and short-term Gaia astrometry. Under the assumption of a circular, face-on orbit, we obtain an estimated mass of $m_c = 3.4^{+5.2}_{-3.4}$ $M_\odot$, broadly consistent with radial-velocity constraints but limited by our current uncertainties. These results establish the foundation for the next phase of ARES, which will exploit HST spatial-scanning observations to achieve astrometric precisions of a few tens of $\mu$as and enable a direct search for astrometric signatures of low-mass companions.