We present a study of the three-dimensional (3D) structure of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) using ∼2.2 million red clump (RC) stars selected from the Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History. To ...correct for line-of-sight dust extinction, the intrinsic RC color and magnitude and their radial dependence are carefully measured by using internal nearly dust-free regions. These are then used to construct an accurate 2D reddening map (165 deg2 area with ∼10′ resolution) of the LMC disk and the 3D spatial distribution of RC stars. An inclined disk model is fit to the 2D distance map, yielding a best-fit inclination angle degrees with random errors of 0 19 and line-of-nodes position angle degrees with random errors of 0 49. These angles vary with galactic radius, indicating that the LMC disk is warped and twisted likely due to the repeated tidal interactions with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). For the first time, our data reveal a significant warp in the southwestern part of the outer disk starting at ∼ 7° that departs from the defined LMC plane up to ∼4 kpc toward the SMC, suggesting that it originated from a strong interaction with the SMC. In addition, the inner disk encompassing the off-centered bar appears to be tilted up to 5°-15° relative to the rest of the LMC disk. These findings on the outer warp and the tilted bar are consistent with the predictions from the Besla et al. simulation of a recent direct collision with the SMC.
Abstract
We present photometric and spectroscopic observations of the extraordinary gamma-ray burst (GRB) 221009A in search of an associated supernova. Some past GRBs have shown bumps in the optical ...light curve that coincide with the emergence of supernova spectral features, but we do not detect any significant light-curve features in GRB 221009A, nor do we detect any clear sign of supernova spectral features. Using two well-studied GRB-associated supernovae (SN 2013dx,
M
r
,
max
=
−
19.54
;
SN 2016jca,
M
r
,
max
=
−
19.04
) at a similar redshift as GRB 221009A (
z
= 0.151), we modeled how the emergence of a supernova would affect the light curve. If we assume the GRB afterglow to decay at the same rate as the X-ray data, the combination of afterglow and a supernova component is fainter than the observed GRB brightness. For the case where we assume the best-fit power law to the optical data as the GRB afterglow component, a supernova contribution should have created a clear bump in the light curve, assuming only extinction from the Milky Way. If we assume a higher extinction of
E
(
B
−
V
) = 1.74 mag (as has been suggested elsewhere), the supernova contribution would have been hard to detect, with a limit on the associated supernova of
M
r
,
max
≈
−
19.54. We do not observe any clear supernova features in our spectra, which were taken around the time of expected maximum light. The lack of a bright supernova associated with GRB 221009A may indicate that the energy from the explosion is mostly concentrated in the jet, leaving a lower energy budget available for the supernova.
We present the detection of very extended stellar populations around the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) out to R ∼ 21°, or ∼18.5 kpc at the LMC distance of 50 kpc, as detected in the Survey of the ...Magellanic Stellar History (SMASH) performed with the Dark Energy Camera on the NOAO Blanco 4 m Telescope. The deep (g ∼ 24) SMASH color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) clearly reveal old (∼9 Gyr), metal-poor (Fe/H −0.8 dex) main-sequence stars at a distance of ∼50 kpc. The surface brightness of these detections is extremely low with our most distant detection at g 34 mag arcsec−2. The SMASH radial density profile breaks from the inner LMC exponential decline at ∼13°-15° and a second component at larger radii has a shallower slope with power-law index = −2.2 that contributes ∼0.4% of the LMC's total stellar mass. In addition, the SMASH densities exhibit large scatter around our best-fit model of ∼70% indicating that the envelope of stellar material in the LMC periphery is highly disturbed. We also use data from the NOAO Source catalog to map the LMC main-sequence populations at intermediate radii and detect a steep dropoff in density on the eastern side of the LMC (at R 8°) as well as an extended structure to the far northeast. These combined results confirm the existence of a very extended, low-density envelope of stellar material with a disturbed shape around the LMC. The exact origin of this structure remains unclear, but the leading options include an accreted halo or tidally stripped outer disk material.
The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are unique local laboratories for studying the formation and evolution of small galaxies in exquisite detail. The Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History ...(SMASH) is an NOAO community Dark Energy Camera (DECam) survey of the Clouds mapping 480 deg2 (distributed over ∼2400 square degrees at ∼20% filling factor) to ∼24th mag in ugriz. The primary goals of SMASH are to identify low surface brightness stellar populations associated with the stellar halos and tidal debris of the Clouds, and to derive spatially resolved star formation histories. Here, we present a summary of the survey, its data reduction, and a description of the first public Data Release (DR1). The SMASH DECam data have been reduced with a combination of the NOAO Community Pipeline, the PHOTRED automated point-spread-function photometry pipeline, and custom calibration software. The astrometric precision is ∼15 mas and the accuracy is ∼2 mas with respect to the Gaia reference frame. The photometric precision is ∼0.5%-0.7% in griz and ∼1% in u with a calibration accuracy of ∼1.3% in all bands. The median 5 point source depths in ugriz are 23.9, 24.8, 24.5, 24.2, and 23.5 mag. The SMASH data have already been used to discover the Hydra II Milky Way satellite, the SMASH 1 old globular cluster likely associated with the LMC, and extended stellar populations around the LMC out to R ∼ 18.4 kpc. SMASH DR1 contains measurements of ∼100 million objects distributed in 61 fields. A prototype version of the NOAO Data Lab provides data access and exploration tools.
Abstract
The Magellanic Bridge (MB) is a gaseous stream that links the Large (LMC) and Small (SMC) Magellanic Clouds. Current simulations suggest that the MB forms from a recent interaction between ...the Clouds. In this scenario, the MB should also have an associated stellar bridge formed by stars tidally stripped from the SMC by the LMC. There are several observational evidences for these stripped stars, from the presence of intermediate age populations in the MB and carbon stars, to the recent observation of an over-density of RR Lyrae stars offset from the MB. However, spectroscopic confirmation of stripped stars in the MB remains lacking. In this paper, we use medium resolution spectra to derive the radial velocities and metallicities of stars in two fields along the MB. We show from both their chemistry and kinematics that the bulk of these stars must have been tidally stripped from the SMC. This is the first spectroscopic evidence for a dwarf galaxy being tidally stripped by a larger dwarf.
ABSTRACT We present the discovery of a new dwarf galaxy, Hydra II, found serendipitously within the data from the ongoing Survey of the Magellanic Stellar History conducted with the Dark Energy ...Camera on the Blanco 4 m Telescope. The new satellite is compact ( 11 pc) and faint ( 0.3), but well within the realm of dwarf galaxies. The stellar distribution of Hydra II in the color-magnitude diagram is well-described by a metal-poor ( ) and old (13 Gyr) isochrone and shows a distinct blue horizontal branch, some possible red clump stars, and faint stars that are suggestive of blue stragglers. At a heliocentric distance of 134 10 kpc, Hydra II is located in a region of the Galactic halo that models have suggested may host material from the leading arm of the Magellanic Stream. A comparison with N-body simulations hints that the new dwarf galaxy could be or could have been a satellite of the Magellanic Clouds.
Abstract
The optical integrated spectra of three Large Magellanic Cloud young stellar clusters (NGC 1984, NGC 1994 and NGC 2011) exhibit concave continua and prominent molecular bands which deviate ...significantly from the predictions of single stellar population (SSP) models. In order to understand the appearance of these spectra, we create a set of young stellar population (MILES) models, which we make available to the community. We use archival International Ultraviolet Explorer integrated UV spectra to independently constrain the cluster masses and extinction, and rule out strong stochastic effects in the optical spectra. In addition, we also analyse deep colour–magnitude diagrams of the clusters to provide independent age determinations based on isochrone fitting. We explore hypotheses, including age spreads in the clusters, a top-heavy initial mass function, different SSP models and the role of red supergiant stars (RSG). We find that the strong molecular features in the optical spectra can be only reproduced by modelling an increased fraction of about ∼20 per cent by luminosity of RSG above what is predicted by canonical stellar evolution models. Given the uncertainties in stellar evolution at Myr ages, we cannot presently rule out the presence of Myr age spreads in these clusters. Our work combines different wavelengths as well as different approaches (resolved data as well as integrated spectra for the same sample) in order to reveal the complete picture. We show that each approach provides important information but in combination we can better understand the cluster stellar populations.
ABSTRACT
Due to their close proximity, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC/SMC) provide natural laboratories for understanding how galaxies form and evolve. With the goal of determining the ...structure and dynamical state of the SMC, we present new spectroscopic data for ∼3000 SMC red giant branch stars observed using the AAOmega spectrograph at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. We complement our data with further spectroscopic measurements from previous studies that used the same instrumental configuration as well as proper motions from the Gaia Data Release 2 catalogue. Analysing the photometric and stellar kinematic data, we find that the SMC centre of mass presents a conspicuous offset from the velocity centre of its associated H i gas, suggesting that the SMC gas is likely to be far from dynamical equilibrium. Furthermore, we find evidence that the SMC is currently undergoing tidal disruption by the LMC within 2 kpc of the centre of the SMC, and possibly all the way into the very core. This is revealed by a net outward motion of stars from the SMC centre along the direction towards the LMC and an apparent tangential anisotropy at all radii. The latter is expected if the SMC is undergoing significant tidal stripping, as we demonstrate using a suite of N-body simulations of the SMC/LMC system disrupting around the Milky Way. Our results suggest that dynamical models for the SMC that assume a steady state will need to be revisited.
We explore the stellar structure of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) disk using data from the Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History and the Dark Energy Survey. We detect a ring-like stellar ...overdensity in the red clump star count map at a radius of ∼6° (∼5.2 kpc at the LMC distance) that is continuous over ∼270° in position angle and is only limited by the current data coverage. The overdensity shows an amplitude up to 2.5 times higher than that of the underlying smooth disk. This structure might be related to the multiple arms found by de Vaucouleurs. We find that the overdensity shows spatial correlation with intermediate-age star clusters, but not with young (<1 Gyr) main-sequence stars, indicating the stellar populations associated with the overdensity are intermediate in age or older. Our findings on the LMC overdensity can be explained by either of two distinct formation mechanisms of a ring-like overdensity: (1) the overdensity formed out of an asymmetric one-armed spiral wrapping around the LMC main body, which is induced by repeated encounters with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) over the last Gyr, or (2) the overdensity formed very recently as a tidal response to a direct collision with the SMC. Although the measured properties of the overdensity alone cannot distinguish between the two candidate scenarios, the consistency with both scenarios suggests that the ring-like overdensity is likely a product of tidal interaction with the SMC, but not with the Milky Way halo.
SMASHing the low surface brightness SMC Massana, Pol; Noël, Noelia E D; Nidever, David L ...
Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society,
10/2020, Volume:
498, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
ABSTRACT
The periphery of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) can unlock important information regarding galaxy formation and evolution in interacting systems. Here, we present a detailed study of the ...extended stellar structure of the SMC using deep colour–magnitude diagrams, obtained as part of the Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History (SMASH). Special care was taken in the decontamination of our data from Milky Way (MW) foreground stars, including from foreground globular clusters NGC 362 and 47 Tuc. We derived the SMC surface brightness using a ‘conservative’ approach from which we calculated the general parameters of the SMC, finding a staggered surface brightness profile. We also traced the fainter outskirts by constructing a stellar density profile. This approach, based on stellar counts of the oldest main-sequence turn-off stars, uncovered a tidally disrupted stellar feature that reaches as far out as 12 deg from the SMC centre. We also serendipitously found a faint feature of unknown origin located at ∼14 deg from the centre of the SMC and that we tentatively associated with a more distant structure. We compared our results to in-house simulations of a 1 × 109 M⊙ SMC, finding that its elliptical shape can be explained by its tidal disruption under the combined presence of the MW and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Finally, we found that the older stellar populations show a smooth profile while the younger component presents a jump in the density followed by a flat profile, confirming the heavily disturbed nature of the SMC.
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