The VMC Survey - XXIV. Signatures of tidally stripped stellar populations from the inner Small Magellanic Cloud

Smitha Subramanian; Stefano Rubele; Ning-Chen Sun; Leo Girardi; Richard de Grijs; Jacco Th. van Loon; Maria-Rosa L. Cioni; Andres E. Piatti; Kenji Bekki; Jim Emerson; Valentin D. Ivanov; Leandro Kerber; Marcella Marconi; Vincenzo Ripepi; Benjamin L. Tatton

doi:10.1093/mnras/stx205

The VMC Survey - XXIV. Signatures of tidally stripped stellar populations from the inner Small Magellanic Cloud

Smitha Subramanian, Stefano Rubele, Ning-Chen Sun, Leo Girardi, Richard de Grijs, Jacco Th. van Loon, Maria-Rosa L. Cioni, Andres E. Piatti, Kenji Bekki, Jim Emerson, Valentin D. Ivanov, Leandro Kerber, Marcella Marconi, Vincenzo Ripepi, Benjamin L. Tatton

International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

40 Citations (Web of Science)

Abstract

We study the luminosity function of intermediate-age red clump stars using deep, near-infrared photometric data covering similar to 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 that show a foreground population (similar to 11.8 +/- 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 (similar to 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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2980-2995
Number of pages	16
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume	467
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx205
Publication status	Published - Jun 2017

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Subramanian, S., Rubele, S., Sun, N.-C., Girardi, L., de Grijs, R., van Loon, J. T., Cioni, M.-R. L., Piatti, A. E., Bekki, K., Emerson, J., Ivanov, V. D., Kerber, L., Marconi, M., Ripepi, V., & Tatton, B. L. (2017). The VMC Survey - XXIV. Signatures of tidally stripped stellar populations from the inner Small Magellanic Cloud. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 467(3), 2980-2995. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx205

@article{8437214c9f5247c4ae8102f6b9a16f67,

title = "The VMC Survey - XXIV. Signatures of tidally stripped stellar populations from the inner Small Magellanic Cloud",

abstract = "We study the luminosity function of intermediate-age red clump stars using deep, near-infrared photometric data covering similar to 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 that show a foreground population (similar to 11.8 +/- 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 (similar to 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.",

keywords = "stars: individual: red clump stars, galaxies: interactions, Magellanic Clouds, STAR-FORMATION HISTORY, DISTANCES PUBLICATION BIAS, CLUMP ABSOLUTE MAGNITUDE, RED CLUMP, 3-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE, CLASSICAL CEPHEIDS, K-BAND, BRIDGE, STREAM, SYSTEM",

author = "Smitha Subramanian and Stefano Rubele and Ning-Chen Sun and Leo Girardi and {de Grijs}, Richard and {van Loon}, {Jacco Th.} and Cioni, {Maria-Rosa L.} and Piatti, {Andres E.} and Kenji Bekki and Jim Emerson and Ivanov, {Valentin D.} and Leandro Kerber and Marcella Marconi and Vincenzo Ripepi and Tatton, {Benjamin L.}",

year = "2017",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1093/mnras/stx205",

language = "English",

volume = "467",

pages = "2980--2995",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society",

issn = "0035-8711",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

number = "3",

}

Subramanian, S, Rubele, S, Sun, N-C, Girardi, L, de Grijs, R, van Loon, JT, Cioni, M-RL, Piatti, AE, Bekki, K, Emerson, J, Ivanov, VD, Kerber, L, Marconi, M, Ripepi, V & Tatton, BL 2017, 'The VMC Survey - XXIV. Signatures of tidally stripped stellar populations from the inner Small Magellanic Cloud', Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 467, no. 3, pp. 2980-2995. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx205

TY - JOUR

T1 - The VMC Survey - XXIV. Signatures of tidally stripped stellar populations from the inner Small Magellanic Cloud

AU - Subramanian, Smitha

AU - Rubele, Stefano

AU - Sun, Ning-Chen

AU - Girardi, Leo

AU - de Grijs, Richard

AU - van Loon, Jacco Th.

AU - Cioni, Maria-Rosa L.

AU - Piatti, Andres E.

AU - Bekki, Kenji

AU - Emerson, Jim

AU - Ivanov, Valentin D.

AU - Kerber, Leandro

AU - Marconi, Marcella

AU - Ripepi, Vincenzo

AU - Tatton, Benjamin L.

PY - 2017/6

Y1 - 2017/6

N2 - We study the luminosity function of intermediate-age red clump stars using deep, near-infrared photometric data covering similar to 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 that show a foreground population (similar to 11.8 +/- 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 (similar to 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.

AB - We study the luminosity function of intermediate-age red clump stars using deep, near-infrared photometric data covering similar to 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 that show a foreground population (similar to 11.8 +/- 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 (similar to 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.

KW - stars: individual: red clump stars

KW - galaxies: interactions

KW - Magellanic Clouds

KW - STAR-FORMATION HISTORY

KW - DISTANCES PUBLICATION BIAS

KW - CLUMP ABSOLUTE MAGNITUDE

KW - RED CLUMP

KW - 3-DIMENSIONAL STRUCTURE

KW - CLASSICAL CEPHEIDS

KW - K-BAND

KW - BRIDGE

KW - STREAM

KW - SYSTEM

U2 - 10.1093/mnras/stx205

DO - 10.1093/mnras/stx205

M3 - Article

SN - 0035-8711

VL - 467

SP - 2980

EP - 2995

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

IS - 3

ER -

The VMC Survey - XXIV. Signatures of tidally stripped stellar populations from the inner Small Magellanic Cloud

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