1995/07/18 by Martin D. Weinberg · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/309803
published as Astrophys.J. 455 (1995) L31 · 8 pages, uuencoded compressed PostScript, no figures, html version with figures and mpeg simulations available at http://www-astro.phast.umass.edu/Preprints/martin/martin1/lmc_online.html
arxiv created 1995/07/18 · openalex publication_date 1995/12/10 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Previous attempts at disturbing the Galactic disk by the Magellanic Clouds relied on direct tidal forcing. However, by allowing the halo to respond actively rather than remain a rigid contributor to the rotation curve, the Clouds may produce a wake in the halo which then distorts the disk. Recent work reported here suggests that the Magellanic Clouds use this mechanism to produce disk distortions sufficient to account for the location, position angle, and sign of the H I warp and the observed anomalies in stellar kinematics toward the Galactic anticenter and LSR motion. More generally, the observed response depends on the gravitational potential and therefore provides a diagnostic for the structure of the halo and its extent.