ARlogo Annu. Rev. Astron. Astrophys. 1997. 35: 637-675
Copyright © 1997 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved

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2.4. Large Magellanic Cloud

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is the nearest barred galaxy, with the bar offset from the kinematic and isophotal center and embedded in an extensive disk. A minor metal-poor old component of the LMC is seen in deep HST color-magnitude data (Elson et al 1997), but its kinematics and spatial distribution are not yet well known. There is a significant amount of new information, from the several microlensing experiments, which will appear in the literature over the next few years concerning the variable star population of the LMC. Of particular relevance are data for the Long Period Variables (LPVs) and the RR Lyrae. The LPVs are believed to have low-mass progenitors and hence trace older stellar populations, while RR Lyrae variables are the traditional tracers of old metal-poor populations. However, most of the information has yet to be analyzed. There has been no kinematical analysis of the LPVs since that of Hughes et al (1991), who found tentative indications of classical hot halo kinematics. The old globular clusters of the LMC, despite prejudice, have kinematics consistent with being in a rotating disk (e.g. Freeman 1993). Thus, little evidence exists for a bulge or halo population in the LMC, except the observation that an old metal-poor stellar population exists.