THE MAGELLANIC INTER-CLOUD PROJECT (MAGIC). I. EVIDENCE FOR INTERMEDIATE-AGE STELLAR POPULATIONS IN BETWEEN THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS

Journal Article · Fri May 10 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/768/2/109· OSTI ID:22126764

Noeel, N. E. D.; Read, J. I. ^[1]; Conn, B. C.; Rix, H. -W. ^[2]; Carrera, R. ^[3]

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1. ETH Zuerich, Institute for Astronomy, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, CH-8093 Zuerich (Switzerland)
2. Max Planck Institut fuer Astronomie, Koenigstuhl 17, D-69117, Heidelberg (Germany)
3. Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, C/Via Lactea s/n, E-38200, La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)

The origin of the gas in between the Magellanic Clouds (MCs)-known as the ''Magellanic Bridge'' (MB)-is puzzling. Numerical simulations suggest that the MB formed from tidally stripped gas and stars in a recent interaction between the MCs. However, the apparent lack of stripped intermediate- or old-age stars associated with the MB is at odds with this picture. In this paper, we present the first results from the MAGellanic Inter-Cloud program (MAGIC) aimed at probing the stellar populations in the inter-Cloud region. We present observations of the stellar populations in two large fields located in between the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC/SMC), secured using the WFI camera on the 2.2 m telescope in La Silla. Using a synthetic color-magnitude diagram technique, we present the first quantitative evidence for the presence of intermediate-age and old stars in the inter-Cloud region. The intermediate-age stars-which make up {approx}28% of all stars in the region-are not present in fields at a similar distance from the SMC in a direction pointing away from the LMC. This provides potential evidence that these intermediate-age stars could have been tidally stripped from the SMC. However, spectroscopic studies will be needed to confirm or rule out the tidal origin for the inter-Cloud gas and stars.

• OSTI ID: 22126764
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 768; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
DISTANCE
INTERACTIONS
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
PROBES
STAR EVOLUTION
STARS
TELESCOPES