The Small Magellanic Cloud is over 200,000 light-years away, yet it’s still one of our galaxy’s closest neighbours in space. Ancient astronomers knew of it, and modern astronomers have studied it intensely. But the SMC still holds secrets.
“The clarity of this image is unprecedented,” Dr. Pingel said in a press release. “We’re able to see all of the small-scale structures for the first time. It’s an important step in understanding the role hydrogen plays in the evolution of galaxies.” Previous studies have examined HI in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds. But they’ve been single-dish studies, and they lacked the power that GASKAP has. GASKAP uses an array of dishes spread over a square kilometre to achieve higher spatial resolution. That higher resolution will allow astronomers to study the small-scale structure of the SMC, the LMC, and the Milky Way.
This figure is one of the image cubes from the study. It’s a combination of GASKAP data and data from the Parkes Observatory in Australia. It shows peak HI density and reveals the wealth of small-scale structures in the SMC. Image Credit: Pingel et al 2021.“This specific image was part of a pilot survey,” Dr. Pingel said. “Over the next year, we are going to collect more observations.
A newfound cluster of young stars sits on the periphery of the Milky Way. These stars probably formed from material originating from the Magellanic Clouds, the Milky Way’s neighbouring dwarf galaxies. Credit: NASA/D. Nidever This pilot image also shows the different velocities of the Magellanic High-Velocity Clouds HVCs are large clouds of gas found in the galactic halo that make up the Magellanic Stream. The sensitivity of the image, and its higher resolution, allowed astronomers to more tightly constrain the Stream’s kinematics, morphology, and mass.
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