Magellanic Bridge
Stars being pulled from the SMC, heading towards the LMC, as seen by Gaia. | |
| Object type | H I region |
|---|---|
| 03h 11m | |
| Declination | −73.5° |
| Mass | 3–5 × 10^5 M⊙ |
| Estimated age | 200 mya-1.5gya |
| Related media on Wikimedia Commons | |
The Magellanic Bridge (MBR) is a stream of low density neutral Hydrogen (HI) that links the two Magellanic Clouds, with a few known stars inside it. Though the stream is low density, it is still capable of star formation. The entire stream has a mass of 3-5x10^5⊙.
The Magellanic bridge is probably between 200-1.5 billion years of age based on the metallicity of the oldest stars in the region and N-body models.
It should not be confused with the Magellanic Stream, which links the Magellanic Clouds to the Milky Way. It was discovered in 1963 by J. V. Hindman et al.