Emission Line Velocity, Metallicity and Extinction Maps of the Small Magellanic Cloud

TL;DR

This study maps the velocity, metallicity, and extinction across the Small Magellanic Cloud, revealing gradients and regional differences that shed light on its structure and dynamics as a disrupted satellite galaxy.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed interpolated maps of metallicity, extinction, and velocity for the SMC using WiFeS data, highlighting spatial gradients and kinematic features.

Findings

Metallicity gradient of -0.095 dex/kpc from center to north

Extinction gradient of -0.086 E(B-V)/kpc from center northward

Eastern arm has lower extinction and velocity dispersion

Abstract

Optical emission lines across the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) have been measured from multiple fields using the Australian National University (ANU) 2.3m telescope with the Wide-Field Spectrograph (WiFeS). Interpolated maps of the gas-phase metallicity, extinction, H$\alpha$ radial velocity and H$\alpha$ velocity dispersion have been made from these measurements. There is a metallicity gradient from the centre to the north of the galaxy of ~-0.095 dex/kpc with a shallower metallicity gradient from the centre to the south of the galaxy of ~-0.013 dex/kpc. There is an extinction gradient of ~-0.086 E(B-V)/kpc from the centre going north and shallower going from the centre to the south of ~-0.0089 E(B-V)/kpc. The SMC eastern arm has lower extinction than the main body. The radial velocity of the gas from the H$\alpha$ line and the HI line have been compared across the SMC. In general there is good agreement between the two measurements, though there are a few notable exceptions. Both show a region that has different radial velocity to the bulk motion of the SMC in the southern western corner by at least 16 kms$^{-1}$. The velocity dispersion from H$\alpha$ and HI across the SMC have also been compared, with the H$\alpha$ velocity dispersion usually the higher of the two. The eastern arm of the SMC generally has lower velocity dispersion than the SMC's main body. These measurements enable a detailed examination of the SMC, highlighting its nature as a disrupted satellite galaxy.