Collaborative Research: Survey of the Magellanic Stellar History

研究人员正在领导一个名为“麦哲伦恒星历史调查”(SMASH)的项目，该项目旨在观测南半球可见的两个附近的矮星系。这些矮小星系被称为大小麦哲伦云(LMC和SMC)，是一个独特的地方实验室，用于精细地研究星系的形成和演化。研究人员的目标是观察这些星系中恒星形成留下的碎片。通过这些观测，他们将了解这些矮小星系的形成历史，并确定这些星系与我们的银河系发生了什么类型的相互作用。研究人员正在与Zooniverse团队合作，该团队将研究科学家与希望帮助研究的普通公众志愿者联系起来。该团队将以一种允许非专家使用基于网络的工具将恒星分组为不同类别的方式来组织数据。Zooniverse软件工具帮助研究人员取得进展，同时让志愿者们享受这个过程。十年前，人们认为麦哲伦星云的相互作用历史已经被很好地理解了，只有次要的细节有待解释。然而，在过去的十年里，一些重要的发现对它们的结构和过去的历史提出了新的问题。观测表明，LMC-SMC相互作用本身就是麦哲伦桥、流、前臂和中性氢延伸到半空的原因。这些结果表明，中国的结构比几年前想象的要丰富得多，也更加复杂。研究人员的观测将揭示麦哲伦外围巨大但表面亮度较低的恒星结构，从而揭开这些云复杂的相互作用历史。

The investigators are leading the "Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History" (SMASH), a project to observe two nearby dwarf galaxies, visible in the southern hemisphere. These dwarf galaxies, called the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC), are a unique local laboratory for studying the formation and evolution of galaxies in exquisite detail. The investigators' goal is to observe the debris left over from star formation in these galaxies. Using these observations, they will learn the history of formation of these dwarf galaxies and determine what type interactions these galaxies have had with our Milky Way Galaxy.The investigators are working with the Zooniverse team, which connects research scientists with the volunteers in the general public that want to help with research. The team will organize the data in a way that allows non-experts to group the stars into different categories, using web-based tools. The Zooniverse software tools help researchers make progress, while making the process enjoyable for the volunteers.A decade ago, the interaction history of the Magellanic Clouds was thought to be well understood, with only minor details remaining to be explained. However, in the last decade, several important discoveries have been made which raise fresh questions about their structure and past history. The observations indicate LMC-SMC interactions alone are responsible for the formation of the Magellanic Bridge, Stream, Leading Arm and neutral hydrogen extending half way across the sky. These results point to a much richer and more complex structure than was imagined just a few years ago. The investigators observations will uncover the vast, but low surface brightness, stellar structures in the Magellanic periphery and thereby unravel the complex interaction history of the Clouds.