Large Magellanic Cloud

Large Magellanic Cloud

The Large Magellanic Cloud
Observation data (J2000 epoch)
Constellation Dorado/Mensa
Right ascension 05h 23m 34.5s[1]
Declination −69° 45′ 22″[1]
Distance 163.0 kly (49.97 kpc)[2]
Apparent magnitude (V) 0.9[1]
Characteristics
Type SB(s)m[1]
Mass 1010[3] M☉
Size 14,000 ly in diameter
(~4.3 kpc)[3]
Apparent size (V) 10.75° × 9.17°[1]
Other designations
LMC, ESO 56- G 115, PGC 17223,[1] Nubecula Major[4]

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.[5] At a distance of 50 kiloparsecs (≈163,000 light-years),[2][6][7][8] the LMC is the third-closest galaxy to the Milky Way, after the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal (~ 16 kpc) and the putative Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy (~ 12.9 kpc, though its status as a galaxy is under dispute) lying closer to the center of the Milky Way. The LMC has a diameter of about 14,000 light-years (4.3 kpc) and a mass of approximately 10 billion Sun masses (1010 solar masses), making it roughly 1/100 as massive as the Milky Way.[3] The LMC is the fourth-largest galaxy in the Local Group, after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), the Milky Way, and the Triangulum Galaxy (M33).

In the past, the LMC was often considered an irregular type galaxy. However, it is now recognized as a disrupted barred spiral galaxy. The NASA Extragalactic Database, however, still lists the Hubble sequence type as Irr/SB(s)m. In reality, the LMC contains a very prominent bar in its center, suggesting that it may have been a barred dwarf spiral galaxy before its spiral arms were disrupted, likely by the Milky Way's gravity. The LMC's present irregular appearance is likely the result of tidal interactions with both the Milky Way and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC).

It is visible as a faint "cloud" in the night sky of the southern hemisphere straddling the border between the constellations of Dorado and Mensa, and it appears from Earth more than 20 times the width of the full moon.[9]

History

Small part of the Large Magellanic Cloud[10]

The first recorded mention of the Large Magellanic Cloud was by the Persian astronomer `Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi Shirazi, (later known in Europe as "Azophi"), in his Book of Fixed Stars around 964 AD.[11][12]

The next recorded observation was in 1503–4 by Amerigo Vespucci in a letter about his third voyage. In this letter he mentions "three Canopes [sic], two bright and one obscure"; "bright" refers to the two Magellanic Clouds, and "obscure" refers to the Coalsack.[13]

Ferdinand Magellan sighted the LMC on his voyage in 1519, and his writings brought the LMC into common Western knowledge. The galaxy now bears his name.[12]

Measurements with the Hubble Space Telescope, announced in 2006, suggest the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds may be moving too fast to be orbiting the Milky Way.[14]

Geometry

The Large Magellanic Cloud is usually considered an irregular galaxy. However, it shows signs of a bar structure, and is often reclassified as a Magellanic-type dwarf spiral galaxy.

The Large Magellanic Cloud has a prominent central bar and a spiral arm.[15] The central bar seems to be warped so that the east and west ends are nearer the Milky Way than the middle.[16] In 2014, measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope made it possible to determine that the LMC has a rotation period of 250 million years.[17]

The LMC was long considered to be a planar galaxy that could be assumed to lie at a single distance from the Solar System. However, in 1986, Caldwell and Coulson[18] found that field Cepheid variables in the northeast portion of the LMC lie closer to the Milky Way than Cepheids in the southwest portion. More recently, this inclined geometry for field stars in the LMC has been confirmed via observations of Cepheids,[19] core helium-burning red clump stars[20] and the tip of the red giant branch.[21] All three of these papers find an inclination of ~35°, where a face-on galaxy has an inclination of 0°. Further work on the structure of the LMC using the kinematics of carbon stars showed that the LMC's disk is both thick[21] and flared.[22] Regarding the distribution of star clusters in the LMC, Schommer et al.[23] measured velocities for ~80 clusters and found that the LMC's cluster system has kinematics consistent with the clusters moving in a disk-like distribution. These results were confirmed by Grocholski et al.,[24] who calculated distances to a number of clusters and showed that the LMC's cluster system is in fact distributed in the same plane as the field stars.

Distance

Location of the Large Magellanic Cloud with respect to the Milky Way and other satellite galaxies.

The distance to the LMC has been calculated using a variety of standard candles, with Cepheid variables being one of the most popular. Cepheids have been shown to have a relationship between their absolute luminosity and the period over which their brightness varies. However, Cepheids appear to suffer from a metallicity effect, where Cepheids of different metallicities have different period–luminosity relations. Unfortunately, the Cepheids in the Milky Way typically used to calibrate the period–luminosity relation are more metal rich than those found in the LMC.[25]

Modern 8-meter-class optical telescopes have discovered eclipsing binaries throughout the Local Group. Parameters of these systems can be measured without mass or compositional assumptions. The light echoes of supernova 1987A are also geometric measurements, without any stellar models or assumptions.

In 2006, the Cepheid absolute luminosity was re-calibrated using Cepheid variables in the galaxy Messier 106 that cover a range of metallicities.[6] Using this improved calibration, they find an absolute distance modulus of 18.41, or 48 kpc (~157,000 light-years). This distance has been confirmed by other authors.[7][8]

By cross-correlating different measurement methods, one can bound the distance; the residual errors are now less than the estimated size parameters of the LMC. Further work involves measuring the position of a target star or star system within the galaxy (i.e. toward or away from the observer).

The results of a study using late-type eclipsing binaries to determine the distance more accurately was published in the scientific journal Nature in March 2013. A distance of 49.97 kpc (163,000 light-years) with an accuracy of 2.2% was obtained.[2]

Features

Two very different glowing gas clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud[26]

Like many irregular galaxies, the LMC is rich in gas and dust, and it is currently undergoing vigorous star formation activity.[27] It is home to the Tarantula Nebula, the most active star-forming region in the Local Group.

Globular cluster NGC 1783 is one of the biggest globular clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud.[28]

The LMC has a wide range of galactic objects and phenomena that make it aptly known as an "astronomical treasure-house, a great celestial laboratory for the study of the growth and evolution of the stars," as described by Robert Burnham, Jr.[29] Surveys of the galaxy have found roughly 60 globular clusters, 400 planetary nebulae, and 700 open clusters, along with hundreds of thousands of giant and supergiant stars.[30] Supernova 1987a—the nearest supernova in recent years—was also located in the Large Magellanic Cloud. The Lionel-Murphy SNR (N86) nitrogen-abundant supernova remnant was named by astronomers at the Australian National University's Mount Stromlo Observatory, in acknowledgement of Australian High Court Justice Lionel Murphy's interest in science and because of SNR N86's perceived resemblance to his large nose.[31]

There is a bridge of gas connecting the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) with the LMC, which is evidence of tidal interaction between the galaxies.[32] The Magellanic Clouds have a common envelope of neutral hydrogen indicating they have been gravitationally bound for a long time. This bridge of gas is a star-forming site.[33]

X-ray sources

No X-rays above background were observed from the Magellanic Clouds during the September 20, 1966, Nike-Tomahawk flight.[34] A second Nike-Tomahawk rocket was launched from Johnston Atoll on September 22, 1966, at 17:13 UTC and reached an apogee of 160 km (99 mi), with spin-stabilization at 5.6 rps.[35] The LMC was not detected in the X-ray range 8–80 keV.[35]

Another Nike-Tomahawk was launched from Johnston Atoll at 11:32 UTC on October 29, 1968, to scan the LMC for X-rays.[36] The first discrete X-ray source in Dorado was at RA 05h 20m Dec −69°,[36][37] and it was the Large Magellanic Cloud.[38] This X-ray source extended over about 12° and is consistent with the Cloud. Its emission rate between 1.5–10.5 keV for a distance of 50 kpc is 4 x 1038 ergs/s.[36] An X-ray astronomy instrument was carried aboard a Thor missile launched from Johnston Atoll on September 24, 1970, at 12:54 UTC and altitudes above 300 km (186 mi), to search for the Small Magellanic Cloud and to extend previous observations of the LMC.[39] The source in the LMC appeared extended and contained the star ε Dor. The X-ray luminosity (Lx) over the range 1.5–12 keV was 6 × 1031 W (6 × 1038 erg/s).[39]

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) appears in the constellations Mensa and Dorado. LMC X-1 (the first X-ray source in the LMC) is at RA 05h 40m 05s Dec −69° 45′ 51″, and is a high mass X-ray binary source (HMXB).[40] Of the first five luminous LMC X-ray binaries: LMC X-1, X-2, X-3, X-4, and A 0538–66 (detected by Ariel 5 at A 0538–66); LMC X-2 is the only one that is a bright low-mass X-ray binary system (LMXB) in the LMC.[41]

DEM L316A is located some 160 000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud.[42]

DEM L316 in the Large Magellanic Cloud consists of two supernova remnants.[43] Chandra X-ray spectra show that the hot gas shell on the upper left contains a high abundance of iron. This implies that the upper left SNR is the product of a Type Ia supernova. The much lower iron abundance in the lower SNR indicates a Type II supernova.[43]

A 16 ms X-ray pulsar is associated with SNR 0538-69.1.[44] SNR 0540-697 was resolved using ROSAT.[45]

View from the LMC

Small and Large Magellanic Clouds over Paranal Observatory

From a viewpoint in the LMC, the Milky Way's total apparent magnitude would be −2.0—over 14 times brighter than the LMC appears to us on Earth—and it would span about 36° across the sky, the width of over 70 full moons. Furthermore, because of the LMC's high galactic latitude, an observer there would get an oblique view of the entire galaxy, free from the interference of interstellar dust that makes studying in the Milky Way's plane difficult from Earth.[46] The Small Magellanic Cloud would be about magnitude 0.6, substantially brighter than the LMC appears to us.[47]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database". Results for Large Magellanic Cloud. Retrieved 2006-10-29.
  2. 1 2 3 Pietrzyński, G; D. Graczyk; W. Gieren; I. B. Thompson; B. Pilecki; A. Udalski; I. Soszyński; et al. (7 March 2013). "An eclipsing-binary distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud accurate to two per cent". Nature. 495 (7439): 76–79. arXiv:1303.2063Freely accessible. Bibcode:2013Natur.495...76P. doi:10.1038/nature11878. PMID 23467166.
  3. 1 2 3 "Magellanic Cloud." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 30 Aug. 2009.
  4. ↑ Buscombe, William, v.7 (1954). "Astronomical Society of the Pacific Leaflets, The Magellanic Clouds". Astronomical Society of the Pacific Leaflets. 7: 9. Bibcode:1954ASPL....7....9B.
  5. ↑ Shattow, Genevieve; Loeb, Abraham (2009). "Implications of recent measurements of the Milky Way rotation for the orbit of t". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. 392: L21. arXiv:0808.0104Freely accessible. Bibcode:2009MNRAS.392L..21S. doi:10.1111/j.1745-3933.2008.00573.x.
  6. 1 2 Macri, L. M.; et al. (2006). "A New Cepheid Distance to the Maser-Host Galaxy NGC 4258 and Its Implications for the Hubble Constant". The Astrophysical Journal. 652 (2): 1133–1149. arXiv:astro-ph/0608211Freely accessible. Bibcode:2006ApJ...652.1133M. doi:10.1086/508530.
  7. 1 2 "The Hubble Constant". Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. 48: 673–710. 2010. arXiv:1004.1856Freely accessible. Bibcode:2010ARA&A..48..673F. doi:10.1146/annurev-astro-082708-101829.
  8. 1 2 Majaess, Daniel J.; Turner, David G.; Lane, David J.; Henden, Arne; Krajci, Tom (2010). "Anchoring the Universal Distance Scale via a Wesenheit Template". JAAVSO. 1007: arXiv:1007.2300. arXiv:1007.2300Freely accessible [astro-ph.GA]. Bibcode:2011JAVSO..39..122M.
  9. ↑ "Large Magellanic Cloud: spectacular from Earth's southern hemisphere | Clusters Nebulae Galaxies". EarthSky. Retrieved 2013-07-17.
  10. ↑ "Cloaked in red". ESA / HUBBLE. Retrieved 12 March 2014.
  11. ↑ "Observatoire de Paris (Abd-al-Rahman Al Sufi)". Retrieved 2007-04-19.
  12. 1 2 "Observatoire de Paris (LMC)". Retrieved 2007-04-19.
  13. ↑ "Observatoire de Paris (Amerigo Vespucci)". Retrieved 2007-04-19.
  14. ↑ Magellanic Clouds May Be Just Passing Through January 9, 2007
  15. ↑ Nicolson, Iain (1999). Unfolding our Universe. United States. pp. 213–214. ISBN 0-521-59270-4.
  16. ↑ Subramaniam, Annapurni (2003-11-03). "Large Magellanic Cloud Bar: Evidence of a Warped Bar". The Astrophysical Journal. United States. 598: L19–L22. Bibcode:2003ApJ...598L..19S. doi:10.1086/380556.
  17. ↑ "Precisely determined rotation rate of this galaxy will blow your mind". Science Recorder.
  18. ↑ Caldwell, J. A. R.; Coulson, I. M. (1986). "The geometry and distance of the Magellanic Clouds from Cepheid variables". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 218 (2): 223–246. Bibcode:1986MNRAS.218..223C. doi:10.1093/mnras/218.2.223.
  19. ↑ Nikolaev, S.; et al. (2004). "Geometry of the Large Magellanic Cloud Disk: Results from MACHO and the Two Micron All Sky Survey". The Astrophysical Journal. 601 (1): 260–276. Bibcode:2004ApJ...601..260N. doi:10.1086/380439.
  20. ↑ Olsen, K. A. G.; Salyk, C. (2002). "A Warp in the Large Magellanic Cloud Disk?". The Astronomical Journal. 124 (4): 2045–2053. Bibcode:2002AJ....124.2045O. doi:10.1086/342739.
  21. 1 2 van der Marel, R. P.; Cioni, M.-R. L. (2001). "Magellanic Cloud Structure from Near-Infrared Surveys. I. The Viewing Angles of the Large Magellanic Cloud". The Astronomical Journal. 122 (4): 1807–1826. arXiv:astro-ph/0105339Freely accessible. Bibcode:2001AJ....122.1807V. doi:10.1086/323099.
  22. ↑ Alves, D. R.; Nelson, C. A. (2000). "The Rotation Curve of the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Implications for Microlensing". The Astrophysical Journal. 542 (2): 789–803. arXiv:astro-ph/0006018Freely accessible. Bibcode:2000ApJ...542..789A. doi:10.1086/317023.
  23. ↑ Schommer, R. A.; et al. (1992). "Spectroscopy of giants in LMC clusters. II – Kinematics of the cluster sample". The Astronomical Journal. 103: 447–459. Bibcode:1992AJ....103..447S. doi:10.1086/116074.
  24. ↑ Grocholski, A. J.; et al. (2007). "Distances to Populous Clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud via the K-band Luminosity of the Red Clump". The Astronomical Journal. 134 (2): 680–693. arXiv:0705.2039Freely accessible. Bibcode:2007AJ....134..680G. doi:10.1086/519735.
  25. ↑ Mottini, M.; Romaniello, M.; Primas, F.; Bono, G.; Groenewegen, M. A. T.; François, P. (2006). "The chemical composition of Cepheids in the Milky Way and the Magellanic Clouds". MmSAI. 77: 156. arXiv:astro-ph/0510514Freely accessible. Bibcode:2006MmSAI..77..156M.
  26. ↑ "The Odd Couple". ESO Press Release. Retrieved 8 August 2013.
  27. ↑ Arny, Thomas T. (2000). Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. p. 479. ISBN 0-07-228249-5.
  28. ↑ "A youthful cluster". ESA/Hubble Picture of the Week. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  29. ↑ Burnham, Robert, Jr. (1978). Burnham's Celestial Handbook: Volume Two. New York: Dover. p. 837. ISBN 0-486-23567-X.
  30. ↑ Burnham (1978), 840–848.
  31. ↑ Dopita, M. A.; Mathewson, D. S.; Ford, V. L. (1977). "Optical emission from shock waves. III. Abundances in supernova remnants". The Astrophysical Journal. 214: 179. Bibcode:1977ApJ...214..179D. doi:10.1086/155242. ISSN 0004-637X.
  32. ↑ Mathewson DS, Ford VL (1984). S van den Bergh; K.S. de Boer, eds. "Structure and Evolution of the Magellanic Clouds". IAU Symposium. Reidel, Dordrecht. 108: 125.
  33. ↑ Heydari-Malayeri M, Meynadier F, Charmandaris V, Deharveng L, Le Bertre T, Rosa MR, Schaerer D (2003). "The stellar environment of SMC N81". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 411 (3): 427–435. arXiv:astro-ph/0309126Freely accessible. Bibcode:2003A&A...411..427H. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20031360.
  34. ↑ Chodil G, Mark H, Rodrigues R, Seward FD, Swift CD (Oct 1967). "X-Ray Intensities and Spectra from Several Cosmic Sources". The Astrophysical Journal. 150 (10): 57–65. Bibcode:1967ApJ...150...57C. doi:10.1086/149312.
  35. 1 2 Seward FD, Toor A (Nov 1967). "Search for 8–80 KEV X-Rays from the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Crab Nebula". The Astrophysical Journal. 150 (11): 405–12. Bibcode:1967ApJ...150..405S. doi:10.1086/149343.
  36. 1 2 3 Mark H, Price R, Rodrigues R, Seward FD, Swift CD (Mar 1969). "Detection of X-rays from the large magellanic cloud". Ap J Lett. 155 (3): L143–4. Bibcode:1969ApJ...155L.143M. doi:10.1086/180322.
  37. ↑ Lewin WH, Clark GW, Smith WB (1968). "Search for X-rays from the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds". Nature. 220 (5164): 249–250. Bibcode:1968Natur.220..249L. doi:10.1038/220249b0.
  38. ↑ Dolan JF (Apr 1970). "A Catalogue of Discrete Celestial X-Ray Sources". The Astronomical Journal. 75 (4): 223–30. Bibcode:1970AJ.....75..223D. doi:10.1086/110966.
  39. 1 2 Price RE, Groves DJ, Rodrigues RM, Seward FD, Swift CD, Toor A (Aug 1971). "X-Rays from the Magellanic Clouds". The Astrophysical Journal. 168 (8): L7–9. Bibcode:1971ApJ...168L...7P. doi:10.1086/180773.
  40. ↑ Rapley, Tuohy (1974). "X-Ray Observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud by the Copernicus Satellite". Astrophysical Journal. 191: L113. Bibcode:1974ApJ...191L.113R. doi:10.1086/181564.
  41. ↑ Bonnet-Bidaud JM, Motch C, Beuermann K, Pakull M, Parmar AN, van der Klis M (Apr 1989). "LMC X-2: an extragalactic bulge-type source". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 213 (1–2): 97–106. Bibcode:1989A&A...213...97B.
  42. ↑ "A long-dead star". www.spacetelescope.org. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  43. 1 2 Williams RM, Chu YH (Dec 2005). "Supernova Remnants in the Magellanic Clouds. VI. The DEM L316 Supernova Remnants". The Astrophysical Journal. 635 (2): 1077–86. arXiv:astro-ph/0509696Freely accessible. Bibcode:2005ApJ...635.1077W. doi:10.1086/497681.
  44. ↑ Marshall, F. E.; Gotthelf, E. V; Zhang, W.; Middleditch, J.; Wang, Q. D. (1998). "Discovery of an Ultrafast X-Ray Pulsar in the Supernova Remnant N157B". The Astrophysical Journal. 499 (2): L179–L182. arXiv:astro-ph/9803214Freely accessible. Bibcode:1998ApJ...499L.179M. doi:10.1086/311381. ISSN 0004-637X.
  45. ↑ Chu, Y.-H.; Kennicutt, R. C.; Snowden, S. L.; Smith, R. C.; Williams, R. M.; Bomans, D. J. (1997). "Uncovering a Supernova Remnant Hidden Near LMCX-1". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 109: 554. Bibcode:1997PASP..109..554C. doi:10.1086/133913. ISSN 0004-6280.
  46. ↑ Some of the figures in the "View" section were extrapolated from data in the Appendix of Chaisson and McMillan's Astronomy Today (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1993).
  47. ↑ http://www.microcosmologist.com/blog/category/cosmology/page/2/
  48. ↑ "Turquoise-tinted plumes in the Large Magellanic Cloud". ESA/Hubble Picture of the Week. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  49. ↑ "A Fiery Drama of Star Birth and Death". ESO Press Release. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
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