This volume presents the most complete and up-to-date accounts of our understanding of the Magellanic Clouds and the astrophysical processes within them. Observations of these nearby dwarf galaxies continue to advance, calibrate and challenge our knowledge of the cosmos. They are rich in gas, they have been actively forming stars throughout their history, and they display a wealth of dynamical features. Poor in metals, they serve as a stepping stone towards understanding the high-redshift Universe.
In IAU Symposium 256, scientists from vastly different fields of research discuss galactic dynamics, the physics of the interstellar medium and star formation, and the fundamental properties and evolution of stars. New insight was gained by crossing the traditional boundaries of these fields, placing the findings in the context of the structure and evolution of this interacting pair of galaxies uniquely available to our ever more powerful telescopes and computational machinery.
List of posters;
Preface;
The organizing committee;
Conference photograph;
Participants;
Dedication;
Part I. Surveys of the Magellanic Clouds;
Part II. The Structure and Dynamics of the Magellanic System; Part III. The Properties of the Interstellar Medium;
Part IV. The Star Formation Process;
Part V. The Star Formation History and Chemical Evolution;
Part VI. The Magellanic Clouds as Laboratories of Stellar Astrophysics;
Part VII. The Final Stages of Stellar Evolution and Feedback; Part VIII. Magellanic Type Systems as a Class;
Summary;
Author index;
Object index;
Subject index.