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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 January 2010
We present a proper-motion program that we have developed at ESO to measure, for the first time, proper motions of members of the nearby (125 pc), very young (4 × 105 yr) infrared ρ Ophiuchi cluster. Repeated imaging over an extended period will allow us to measure the global proper motion of the cluster and its velocity dispersion and will provide access to the ~ 1 km s−1 velocities for objects as faint as K = 15.7 mag. Access to the velocity field of such an extremely young cluster is of crucial importance to investigate the origin and early evolution of open cluster systems.