The Magellanic System's Interactive Formations

M.E. Putman, PASA, 17 (1), 1.

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Introduction

Almost every galaxy in the Universe is either currently, or was at some time, part of an interacting system. This includes our Galaxy, but until the recent discovery of the Sagittarius dwarf, HI features about the Magellanic Clouds were the only clear sign of our interactive past. Giant neutral hydrogen structures, known as the Magellanic Stream, the Magellanic Bridge and the Leading Arm, depict the Clouds' interaction with each other and the Milky Way. These Magellanic HI complexes make up a large fraction of the high velocity HI concentrations in the southern sky which are known as high-velocity clouds (HVCs). High-velocity clouds are objects which do fit into the classical picture of Galactic HI rotation and fall in the velocity range of

|vlsr| = 90 - 400 km ${\rm s}^{-1}$  (see Wakker & van Woerden 1997 for a review). The overall HVC population has had a number of origin possibilities put forth: from superbubbles in the Galactic disk, to tidal debris, to building blocks of the Local Group. To distinguish between the range of possibilities and determine if more HVCs are related to the interaction of our Galaxy with the Magellanic Clouds, we must better understand the overall HI distribution of high-velocity clouds. Maps from the HI Parkes All Sky Survey (HIPASS) have enabled this by providing a marked improvement in spatial resolution compared to previous HVC surveys (see Putman & Gibson 1999), and revealing previously hidden structure and small high velocity clumps about the Magellanic System.


Next Section: Magellanic Complexes
Title/Abstract Page: The Magellanic System's Interactive
Previous Section: The Magellanic System's Interactive
Contents Page: Volume 17, Number 1

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