# The VMC Survey - XXIV. Signatures of tidally stripped stellar populations from the inner Small Magellanic Cloud

## TL;DR

This study uses deep near-infrared data to identify tidal stripping signatures in the Small Magellanic Cloud, revealing a foreground stellar population likely resulting from interactions with the Large Magellanic Cloud and contributing to the formation of the Magellanic Bridge.

## Contribution

First observational evidence of tidally stripped stellar populations in the inner SMC using the VMC survey data, linking them to the formation of the Magellanic Bridge.

## Key findings

- Detected a foreground population 11.8 kpc in front of the SMC main body.
- Identified the inner region where tidal interaction signatures begin.
- Provided evidence that the Magellanic Bridge formed from tidally stripped SMC material.

## Abstract

We study the luminosity function of intermediate-age red-clump stars using deep, near-infrared photometric data covering $\sim$ 20 deg$^2$ located throughout the central part of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), comprising the main body and the galaxy's eastern wing, based on observations obtained with the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC). We identified regions which show a foreground population ($\sim$11.8 $\pm$ 2.0 kpc in front of the main body) in the form of a distance bimodality in the red-clump distribution. The most likely explanation for the origin of this feature is tidal stripping from the SMC rather than the extended stellar haloes of the Magellanic Clouds and/or tidally stripped stars from the Large Magellanic Cloud. The homogeneous and continuous VMC data trace this feature in the direction of the Magellanic Bridge and, particularly, identify (for the first time) the inner region ($\sim$ 2 -- 2.5 kpc from the centre) from where the signatures of interactions start becoming evident. This result provides observational evidence of the formation of the Magellanic Bridge from tidally stripped material from the SMC.