Visible with the naked eye, the Magellanic Cloud galaxies are our closest pair of interacting dwarf galaxies. Thus, they constitute a unique opportunity to study galactic evolution in precious detail.
During my PhD thesis (available here) I worked on the star formation and chemical evolution history of the Small Magellanic Cloud using data from the Survey of the MAgellanic Stellar History (SMASH; Nidever+2021, including Sakowska). I focused on a peculiar shell-like structure in the northeastern part of the galaxy, crediting its formation to interactions with the neighbouring Large Magellanic Cloud (Sakowska+ 2024).
Dr Joanna Sakowska
Astrophysicist and science communicator