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MIT Physics Lecture Series: f The Magellanic Clouds: Milky Way Satellites or Just Passing By?
Dr. Nitya Kallivayalil
Tue Jan 19, 01:30-02:30pm, 6-120
Single session event
The Magellanic Clouds, two of the Milky Way's closest neighboring galaxies, have been studied for centuries and used for navigation by the world's earliest explorers. Current theories of their evolution involve intense interaction with the Milky Way in which gas is stripped (the 'Magellanic Stream') from them as they orbit through the Milky way disk plane. However, recent 3-D velocities of the Clouds, obtained with HST, indicate that they might not be satellites of the Milky Way at all, but are rather on their first pass. This requires a reassessment of our understanding of the Clouds and the Milky Way.
Contact: Nancy Boyce, 4-315, 253-4461, nboyce@mit.edu
Sponsor: Physics
Latest update: 04-Nov-2009
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