The bar pattern speed of the Large Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

Context. The internal kinematics of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) have been studied in unprecedented depth thanks to the excellent quality of the Gaia mission data, thus revealing the disc’s non-axisymmetric structure. Aims. We seek to constrain the LMC bar pattern speed using the astrometric and spectroscopic data from the Gaia mission. Methods. We applied three methods to evaluate the bar pattern speed by measuring it via: the Tremaine-Weinberg (TW) method, the Dehnen method, and a bisymmetric velocity (BV) model. These methods provide additional information on the bar properties, such as the corotation radius as well as the bar length and strength. We tested the validity of the methods with numerical simulations. Results. A wide range of pattern speeds are inferred by the TW method, owing to a strong dependency on the orientation of the galaxy frame and the viewing angle of the bar perturbation. The simulated bar pattern speeds (corotation radii, respectively) are well recovered by the Dehnen method (BV model). Applied to the LMC data, the Dehnen method finds a pattern speed of Ωp = −1.0 ± 0.5 km s−1 kpc−1, thus corresponding to a bar that barely rotates and is only slightly counter-rotating with respect to the LMC disc. The BV method gives a LMC bar corotation radius of Rc = 4.20 ± 0.25 kpc, corresponding to a pattern speed of Ωp = 18.5−1.1+1.2 km s−1 kpc−1. Conclusions. It is not possible to determine which global value best represents an LMC bar pattern speed with the TW method, due to the strong variation with the orientation of the reference frame. The non-rotating bar from the Dehnen method would be at odds with the structure and kinematics of the LMC disc. The BV method result is consistent with previous estimates and gives a bar corotation-to-length ratio of 1.8 ± 0.1, suggesting that the LMC is hosting a slow bar.