The Small Scale Structure of the Magellanic Stream

S. Stanimirovic (Arecibo/NAIC), J. Dickey (Univ. of Minnesota), A. Brooks (Columbia Univ.), M. Krco (Colgate Univ.), A. Hedden (Univ. of Arizona)

PRESS RELEASE AT THE AAS MEETING IN WASHINGTON (Jan 9 2002): "Rollin' down the river" by Blaine P. Friedlander. Based on the poster paper "Magellanic Stream Probes Density of the Galactic Halo" by M. Krco, S. Stanimirovic & J. Dickey.

Magellanic Stream's neutral hydrogen structure, obtained with the Arecibo telescope, that was used to estimate properties of the Galactic Halo.

Animated gif file (1 MB)


Low resolution gif images: Magellanic Stream V (38k) and Magellanic Stream VI (14k)

Poster Abstract:

The Magellanic Stream consists of discrete clumps of gas stretching from the Magellanic System towards our own galaxy. This gas consists primarily of neutral Hydrogen and is thought to have originated from the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds as a result of, most likely, tidal interactions with the Milky Way. The 21-cm observations of two regions in the Stream were carried out at Arecibo Observatory in summers of 2000 and 2001, enabling, up-to-date, the most detailed images of these regions. These maps reveal the small-scale morphology of the Stream and allow us to probe the density of the Galactic Halo. Assuming that the clumps within the Stream are pressure confined by the hot Halo gas, estimated properties of the Stream gas place limits on the Halo density.

See also recent paper in ApJ The Small-Scale Structure of the Magellanic Stream.
Or an article about Stream results published in German newspaper RP Online.
Or an article that appeared in UniSci



6-Jan-2002 Snezana Stanimirovic (sstanimi@naic.edu)