The VISCACHA survey: star clusters reveal history of the Magellanic Clouds

Dr. Bruno Dias

ESO/UNAB

Abstract:

The Southern sky, as seen from Chile, displays a large gaseous structure that is related to the
Magellanic Clouds. Recent models say that the gas was stripped out mainly from the Small
Magellanic Cloud due to tidal forces coming from the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Milky
Way. Tidal forces should not only affect the gas content of the SMC but also its stars. Many groups
have been looking for stellar counterparts of the tidal interactions between SMC-LMC and the
Milky Way. We are carrying out the VISCACHA survey that focus on much more detailed
information that star clusters provide to help trace back the evolution history of the Magellanic
Clouds. In this talk I will give an overview on this field of research and present our recent results
on the SMC and LMC star clusters.