SMASHing the low surface brightness SMC. (arXiv:2008.00012v1 [astro-ph.GA])

SMASHing the low surface brightness SMC. (arXiv:2008.00012v1 [astro-ph.GA])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Massana_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">Pol Massana</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Noel_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Noelia E. D. Noël</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Nidever_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">David L. Nidever</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Erkal_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Denis Erkal</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Boer_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Thomas J. L. de Boer</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Choi_Y/0/1/0/all/0/1">Yumi Choi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Majewski_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">Steven R. Majewski</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Olsen_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">Knut Olsen</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Monachesi_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Antonela Monachesi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gallart_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Carme Gallart</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Marel_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Roeland P. van der Marel</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Ruiz_Lara_T/0/1/0/all/0/1">Tomás Ruiz-Lara</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Zaritsky_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">Dennis Zaritsky</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Martin_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">Nicolas F. Martin</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Munoz_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">Ricardo R. Muñoz</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Cioni_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Maria-Rosa L. Cioni</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bell_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">Cameron P. M. Bell</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Bell_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">Eric F. Bell</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Stringfellow_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">Guy S. Stringfellow</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Belokurov_V/0/1/0/all/0/1">Vasily Belokurov</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Monelli_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">Matteo Monelli</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Walker_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">Alistair R. Walker</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Martinez_Delgado_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">David Martínez-Delgado</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Vivas_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">A. Katherina Vivas</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Conn_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">Blair C. Conn</a>

The periphery of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) can unlock important
information regarding galaxy formation and evolution in interacting systems.
Here, we present a detailed study of the extended stellar structure of the SMC
using deep colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), obtained as part of the Survey of
the MAgellanic Stellar History (SMASH). Special care was taken in the
decontamination of our data from MW foreground stars, including from foreground
globular clusters NGC 362 and 47 Tuc. We derived the SMC surface brightness
using a “conservative” approach from which we calculated the general
parameters of the SMC, finding a staggered surface brightness profile. We also
traced the fainter outskirts by constructing a stellar density profile. This
approach, based on stellar counts of the oldest main sequence turn-off (MSTO)
stars, uncovered a tidally disrupted stellar feature that reaches as far out as
12 degrees from the SMC centre. We also serendipitously found a faint feature
of unknown origin located at $sim 14$ degrees from the centre of the SMC and
that we tentatively associated to a more distant structure. We compared our
results to in-house simulations of a $1times10^{9} M_odot$ SMC, finding that
its elliptical shape can be explained by its tidal disruption under the
combined presence of the MW and the LMC. Finally, we found that the older
stellar populations show a smooth profile while the younger component presents
a jump in the density followed by a flat profile, confirming the heavily
disturbed nature of the SMC.

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