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Title: Observations with the parking lot camera. I. Surface photometry and color distribution of the Magellanic Clouds

Journal Article · · Astron. J.; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/114854· OSTI ID:6674077

An optical system with a 6 x 10 deg field of view was used to obtain B, V, and R CCD images of the SMC and LMC. SMC is found to have a coherent connected pattern of very recent star formation and the overall properties of star-forming dwarf ellipticals in the Virgo Cluster. While the LMC shows a largely random pattern of star formation, some hierarchical clustering of different age regions is noted. Neither galaxy displays significant evidence for a globally large star-formation rate at the present epoch. It is suggested that if the mass distribution of the LMC was once exponential in form, beyond the 1/2 mass radius, approximately 30 percent of this mass has been lost. 24 references.

Research Organization:
Michigan Univ., Ann Arbor (USA); Mount Wilson and Las Campanas Observatories, Pasadena, CA (USA)
OSTI ID:
6674077
Journal Information:
Astron. J.; (United States), Vol. 96
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English