Kinematics and dynamics of the Magellanic Clouds

The Magellanic Clouds (MCs) and other Magellanic systems are characterized dynamically and kinematically in a review of recent theoretical and observational investigations. Topics examined include the structure and dynamics of Magellanic systems in general (pairing, asymmetrical barred-spiral configuration, displaced rotation curve, and intrinsic flattening less than that of Sd galaxies); model simulations of the dynamics of isolated Magellanic systems; the interactions among the Galaxy, the LMC, and the SMC; dark matter in NGC 3109; and the kinematic study of LMC globular clusters of Freeman et al. (1983), which finds older and younger rotating disks with different lines of nodes.