2000/02/14 by David S. Graff, Graff, David S., Andrew P. Gould +1
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics (astro-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.astro-ph/0002285
2 pages, to be published ApJL. Minor changes include new references
arxiv created 2000/03/09 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01
Light-echo measurements show that SN1987A is 425 pc behind the LMC disk. It is continuing to move away from the disk at 18 \kms. Thus, it has been suggested that SN1987A was ejected from the LMC disk. However, SN1987A is a member of a star cluster, so this entire cluster would have to have been ejected from the disk. We show that the cluster was formed in the LMC disk, with a velocity perpendicular to the disk of about 50 \kms. Such high velocity formation of a star cluster is unusual, having no known counterpart in the Milky Way.