22 research outputs found
Discovery of molecular hydrogen in a high-velocity cloud of the Galactic halo
We report the discovery of molecular hydrogen absorption in a Galactic
high-velocity cloud (HVC) in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud. For
the same HVC we derive an iron abundance which is half of the solar value.
Thus, all evidence points to a Galactic origin for high-velocity cloud complex
in front of the LMC.Comment: Published in Nature, this week; 14 pages, 3 figure
The Distances of the Magellanic Clouds
The present status of our knowledge of the distances to the Magellanic Clouds
is evaluated from a post-Hipparcos perspective. After a brief summary of the
effects of structure, reddening, age and metallicity, the primary distance
indicators for the Large Magellanic Cloud are reviewed: The SN 1987A ring,
Cepheids, RR Lyraes, Mira variables, and Eclipsing Binaries. Distances derived
via these methods are weighted and combined to produce final "best" estimates
for the Magellanic Clouds distance moduli.Comment: Invited review article to appear in ``Post Hipparcos Cosmic
Candles'', F. Caputo & A. Heck (Eds.), Kluwer Academic Publ., Dordrecht, in
pres