The Magellanic Stream and Debris Clouds

TL;DR

This study provides a detailed catalog of 251 neutral hydrogen clouds and filaments in the Magellanic Stream, revealing a large number of head-tail clouds and insights into their origins and interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a high-resolution survey and catalog of Magellanic Stream clouds, highlighting the prevalence of head-tail structures and their possible formation mechanisms.

Findings

Large number of head-tail clouds detected

Filaments originate from the Small Magellanic Cloud

Insights into cloud interactions and evolution

Abstract

We present a study of the discrete clouds and filaments in the Magellanic Stream using a new high-resolution survey of neutral hydrogen (\HI) conducted with H75 array of the Australia Telescope Compact Array, complemented by single-dish data from the Parkes Galactic All-Sky Survey (GASS). From the individual and combined datasets, we have compiled a catalog of 251 clouds and list their basic parameters, including a morphological description useful for identifying cloud interactions. We find an unexpectedly large number of head-tail clouds in the region. The implication for the formation mechanism and evolution is discussed. The filaments appear to originate entirely from the Small Magellanic Cloud and extend into the northern end of the Magellanic Bridge.