The VMC Survey - XXIV. Signatures of tidally stripped stellar populations from the inner Small Magellanic Cloud
The VMC Survey - XXIV. Signatures of tidally stripped stellar populations from the inner Small Magellanic Cloud
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VMC 调查 - XXIV。
DOI：
10.1093/mnras/stx205
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发表时间：
2017
影响因子：
4.8
通讯作者：
Tatton Benjamin L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Subramanian Smitha;Rubele Stefano;Sun Ning-Chen;Girardi Leo;de Grijs Richard;van Loon Jacco Th.;Cioni Maria-Rosa L.;Piatti Andres E.;Bekki Kenji;Emerson Jim;Ivanov Valentin D.;Kerber Le;ro;Marconi Marcella;Ripepi Vincenzo;Tatton Benjamin L.
基于VISTA巡天麦哲伦云（VMC）获得的观测数据，我们研究了中年红团恒星的光度函数，该数据覆盖了小麦哲伦云（SMC）的整个中心部分，包括主体和星系的东翼，覆盖了20°$^2$。我们确定了在红簇分布中以距离双峰形式显示前景种群的区域（主体前面的$\sim$11.8 $\pm$ 2.0 kpc）。对于这一特征的起源，最可能的解释是SMC的潮汐剥离，而不是麦哲伦云的延伸恒星晕和/或大麦哲伦云的潮汐剥离恒星。均匀和连续的VMC数据在麦哲伦桥的方向上追踪了这一特征，特别是（第一次）确定了内部区域（距离中心2 - 2.5 kpc），从那里相互作用的特征开始变得明显。这一结果提供了麦哲伦桥是由SMC的潮汐剥离物质形成的观测证据。
We study the luminosity function of intermediate-age red-clump stars using deep, near-infrared photometric data covering $\sim$ 20 deg$^2$ located throughout the central part of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), comprising the main body and the galaxy's eastern wing, based on observations obtained with the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC). We identified regions which show a foreground population ($\sim$11.8 $\pm$ 2.0 kpc in front of the main body) in the form of a distance bimodality in the red-clump distribution. The most likely explanation for the origin of this feature is tidal stripping from the SMC rather than the extended stellar haloes of the Magellanic Clouds and/or tidally stripped stars from the Large Magellanic Cloud. The homogeneous and continuous VMC data trace this feature in the direction of the Magellanic Bridge and, particularly, identify (for the first time) the inner region ($\sim$ 2 -- 2.5 kpc from the centre) from where the signatures of interactions start becoming evident. This result provides observational evidence of the formation of the Magellanic Bridge from tidally stripped material from the SMC.