Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• BURKERT, A
• LIVIO, M
• TRURAN, J. W

Titel

The influence of our Galaxy on the evolution of the Magellanic Clouds

Ist Teil von

• The Astrophysical journal, 1990-09, Vol.360 (1), p.68-74

Ort / Verlag

Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press

Erscheinungsjahr

1990

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Building upon the assumption of the existence of a hot gaseous corona around the Milky Way Galaxy and a calculation of possible past orbits of the Magellanic Clouds in the gravitational potential of the Galaxy, the question as to whether significant interchange of material could have occurred with the Large Magellanic Cloud is examined. It is estimated that, indeed, the LMC could have exchanged a nontrivial fraction, of the order of 30 percent, of its mass with the corona, over an assumed 10 to the 10th yr of interaction. It therefore follows that, if the Clouds were bound to the Galaxy during the past 10 to the 10th yr, their chemical and dynamical histories would have been strongly influenced by those of the Galaxy itself. It is concluded that either (1) the Clouds have not been bound to the Galaxy over most of its 10 to the 10th yr lifetime, or (2) it is not possible to treat their evolutions as those of isolated systems. 32 refs.