The morphology of the Magellanic Clouds revealed by stars of different age: results from the DENIS survey

TL;DR

This study uses the DENIS survey to analyze the spatial distribution of stars of different ages in the Magellanic Clouds, revealing distinct morphological features associated with various stellar populations.

Contribution

It provides a detailed morphological analysis of the Magellanic Clouds based on stellar populations of different ages, highlighting structural differences.

Findings

LMC has an extended circular shape with a bar and spiral arms.

SMC shows a perturbed structure with a central concentration.

Old and young stars are spatially offset.

Abstract

The spatial distribution of sources populating different regions of the colour-magnitude diagram (I-J, I) extracted from the DENIS catalogue towards the Magellanic Clouds (DCMC -- Cioni et al. 2000) reveal significantly different morphologies. Each region is associated to a different age group. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) shows an extended circular shape with a prominent, off center bar, a nucleus and irregular spiral arms. The Small Magellanic Cloud shows a perturbated structure with a prominent central concentration of stars. Old and young populations are offset from one another.