Aspects of the structure of the Small Magellanic Cloud
Abstract
Radial velocities for about one hundred supergiants of the Small Magellanic Cloud were obtained in 1962 using Fehrenbach's objective-prism technique. Two groups of velocities were detected, according to the positions of the stars in the Cloud. Confirmation of this first result is given by more recent and accurate slit-prism velocities. The magnitudes of the supergiants suggest that the extreme southern end of the bar of the Cloud is more distant than the central and the northern parts. This fact is confirmed by results concerning Cepheids and Wolf-Rayet stars. The depth of the Cloud can be estimated as larger than 15 kpc, rising up to 23 kpc at the extreme end.
- Publication:
-
Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Pub Date:
- March 1981
- Bibcode:
- 1981A&A....96..158F
- Keywords:
-
- Magellanic Clouds;
- Radial Velocity;
- Star Distribution;
- Stellar Magnitude;
- Supergiant Stars;
- Cepheid Variables;
- Stellar Mass;
- Wolf-Rayet Stars;
- Astronomy