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An H I Mosaic of the Small Magellanic Cloud

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2016

L. Staveley-Smith
Affiliation:
Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO, PO Box 76, Epping, NSW 2121, AustralialstaveIe@atnf.csiro.au
R. J. Sault
Affiliation:
Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO, PO Box 76, Epping, NSW 2121, AustralialstaveIe@atnf.csiro.au
D. McConnell
Affiliation:
Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO, PO Box 76, Epping, NSW 2121, AustralialstaveIe@atnf.csiro.au
M. J. Kesteven
Affiliation:
Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO, PO Box 76, Epping, NSW 2121, AustralialstaveIe@atnf.csiro.au
D. Hatzidimitriou
Affiliation:
Physics Department, University of Crete, 714.09 Heraklion, Crete, Greece
K.C. Freeman
Affiliation:
Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories, Weston Creek PO, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia
M. A. Dopita
Affiliation:
Mount Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories, Weston Creek PO, Canberra, ACT 2611, Australia

Abstract

This paper describes the first results from a 20 deg2 mosaic of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) in the λ21-cm line of neutral hydrogen. The mosaic consists of 320 separate pointings with the 375-m array of the Australia Telescope Compact Array. The angular resolution is 1′· 5 (26 pc, for a distance of 60 kpc) and the velocity resolution is l·6kms−1. The images reveal a structure of remarkable complexity, with much of the spatial power contained in high-brightness temperature compact knots and filaments. Numerous wind-blown ‘bubbles’ and ‘supershells’ are evident in the data, both inside and outside the stellar confines of the SMC. Some high-density H I regions are seen to correlate with Hα regions, indicating sites of current star formation. However, many high-column-density H I regions are devoid of optical emission and may represent regions of future star formation. These regions may be under-abundant in diffuse molecular gas due to the high radiation field and low metallicity of the SMC.

Type
Extragalactic
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Australia 1995

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