Magellanic Bridge
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The Magellanic Bridge (MBR)[1] is a stream of low density neutral Hydrogen (HI) that links the two Magellanic Clouds,[2] with a few known stars inside it. Though the stream is low density, it is still capable of star formation. The entire stream has a mass of 3-5x10^5⊙.[3][4]
The Magellanic bridge is probably between 200-1.5 billion years of age based on the metallicity of the oldest stars in the region and N-body models.[5]
It should not be confused with the Magellanic Stream, which links the Magellanic Clouds to the Milky Way. It was discovered in 1963 by J. V. Hindman et al.[6]
Stars
There is a continuous stream of stars throughout the Magellanic Bridge linking the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). This stellar bridge is of greater concentration in the western part, representing bright young stars that don't travel very far in their short lifetimes, born from primordial-like gas in Star Formation Regions that have been pulled and become unbound ("tidally stripped")[7] from the weaker gravitational field of the SMC. There are two major density clumps, one near the SMC, the other midway between the galaxies, referred to as the OGLE Island.[1]
O-type stars have been discovered in the Magellanic Bridge.[7] Theses stars have been shown to have low Iron abundances in a metallicity regime comparable to the dwarf galaxies of Sextans A and Leo P.[8]
References
External links
- SIMBAD, "Magellanic Bridge" (accessed 12 April 2010)
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- ↑ a b SpaceDaily, "Polish astronomers spot young Stellar Bridge in the Magellanic Clouds", 28 November 2014
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