Knowledge of the distribution and population characteristics in outlying regions of the LMC/SMC complex is essential for understanding the early history of these objects and their place in the (Lambda)CDM heirarchy. Past studies have either been very localized albeit detailed (e.g. deep HST population studies); or panoramic, but only identifying brighter objects. The latter limits not only what we can learn about the ages and abundances, but also how far out we can trace the structures, since small numbers of bright Cloud stars are overwhelmed by foreground stars from the Galaxy well before the estimated tidal radii are reached. We propose a survey that addresses this information gap by reaching 1.5 mag deeper than the oldest Main Sequence (MS) turnoff stars. Well chosen passbands (R,I and Washington C,M,DDO51) provide ages and abundances. Using MS stars, we can measure the stellar distribution free of population bias beyond the expected tidal radius, out to 15^\circ from either galaxy. While we cannot image the full ~ 800 square degrees of the region of interest, our chosen fields allow several important questions to be attacked. The survey will also identify stars that can be used later as kinematic probes of the dark matter surrounding the LMC and SMC, and their role within the Galactic halo.

For more information:

• Observing Calendar which shows OLS time (Saha) and other related observing projects.
• Other stuff

More information about the survey will be forthcoming.

Thanks for visiting.

The OLS Team

For more information about Plone, visit the Plone website

For info about "structured text", check the Working with Structured Text link