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Michigan 160: a precursor to the LMC?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2016

L. Staveley-Smith
L. Staveley-Smith*
Affiliation:
Australia Telescope National Facility†, Epping, NSW, 2121 Australia

Abstract

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The tidal interaction between the Magellanic Clouds and the Galaxy is an important factor in influencing the physical and dynamical evolution of the Clouds (e.g. the Magellanic Stream) as well as the genesis and evolution of their respective stellar populations. However, how important is the influence of the Galaxy? This is a key question since we know that relatively isolated, magellanic-type galaxies do exist (e.g. NGC 3109 and NGC 4449) and have been just as efficient at star-formation as the LMC. It is possible in fact that the star formation in the clouds is primarily stochastic in nature and is relatively insensitive to the global forces which seem to have shaped stellar formation processes in massive spiral and elliptical galaxies. Unsupported by a massive bulge or halo component, cold gas disks are inherently susceptible to radial and bar-like instabilities (Efstathiou et al. 1982) which are very efficient at creating the dynamical pressures required for rapid star-formation. With this in mind, a detailed comparison of 'field' magellanic-type galaxies with the LMC and SMC is of some importance.

Type
Stellar Evolution
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 148: The Magellanic Clouds , 1991 , pp. 376 - 377
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1991 

References

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