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A delicate dance of winds, tides and ram pressure stripping: the complex processes forming the Magellanic Stream
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2023-12-18
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As galaxies interact, their gaseous debris is swept away by tidal forces and ram pressure stripping. A prominent, gaseous stream, called the Magellanic Stream (MS), trails behind the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) galaxy. The MS is bifurcated into distinct filaments: (1) one that formed through tidal interactions and (2) another that originates from an active starburst region in the LMC. We explore properties of the latter using HI 21-cm emission-line data and UV absorption-line observations. Using four sightlines along the MS, we identified the filament in the absorption spectra for multiple low ionization species between +235 ¿ VLSR ¿ +350 km/s. The gas near the active starburst region is >41% ionized and our analysis suggests the ionization fraction may drop further from this region. Quantifying the kinematics and ionization helps clarify the interwoven dynamics of galactic winds, tidal interactions, and ram pressure stripping in the Magellanic Stream’s formation.
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Physics and Astronomy