Astrometric Research in the Southern Hemisphere. Dr. Van Altena will continue the second epoch observations of the Southern Proper Motion Program (SPM) and the measurement, analysis, and interpretation of the absolute proper motions that are the result of the SPM. A deep probe of the structure of our Galaxy in the direction of the South Galactic Pole (SGP) to very faint magnitudes will provide needed information on the relative contributions of the different galactic components to the spatial, kinematic, and metallicity distributions of the stars. The development of a detailed interpetive model of the Galaxy to describe the observed distributions will help to combine the results of the SPM, the deep SGP study, and the results of other investigations into a coherent picture of the Galaxy.
