  We present a proper motion study of the eastern shock-region of the supernova
remnant RCW 86 (MSH 14-63, G315.4-2.3), based on optical observations carried
out with VLT/FORS2 in 2007 and 2010. For both the northeastern and southeastern
regions, we measure an average proper motion of H-alpha filaments of 0.10 +/-
0.02 arcsec/yr, corresponding to 1200 +/- 200 km/s at 2.5kpc. There is
substantial variation in the derived proper motions, indicating shock
velocities ranging from just below 700 km/s to above 2200 km/s.
  The optical proper motion is lower than the previously measured X-ray proper
motion of northeastern region. The new measurements are consistent with the
previously measured proton temperature of 2.3 +/- 0.3 keV, assuming no
cosmic-ray acceleration. However, within the uncertainties, moderately
efficient (< 27 per cent) shock acceleration is still possible. The combination
of optical proper motion and proton temperature rule out the possibility that
RCW 86 has a distance less than 1.5kpc.
  The similarity of the proper motions in the northeast and southeast is
peculiar, given the different densities and X-ray emission properties of the
regions. The northeastern region has lower densities and the X-ray emission is
synchrotron dominated, suggesting that the shock velocities should be higher
than in the southeastern, thermal X-ray dominated, region. A possible solution
is that the H-alpha emitting filaments are biased toward denser regions, with
lower shock velocities. Alternatively, in the northeast the shock velocity may
have decreased rapidly during the past 200yr, and the X-ray synchrotron
emission is an afterglow from a period when the shock velocity was higher.
