Monday, April 19, 2010 at 4:00 PM

JILA Auditorium

Snezana Stanimirovic, Univ of Wisconsin

"Diagnosing the Agents of Aging on the Magellanic Stream"

Abstract:

The Magellanic Stream is our nearest example of a gas flow from interacting galaxies. While such flows are postulated to represent an important source of future star formation fuel, how exactly gas ends up back into the galaxies is still not understood. I will present highlights from recent observational studies which show that the Stream is significantly more extended than previously thought, and contains a significant abundance of small-scale structure. By undertaking a systematic study of neutral hydrogen morphology and kinematics we can investigate the aging of the Stream gas through various hydrodynamical instabilities, as well as its interaction with the Galactic halo. By working backward, starting from the northern extension of the Stream which has been exposed the longest to the hot Galactic halo, we can provide important constraints for the orbital evolution of the Magellanic Clouds, the topic still under heated debate.

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