The VMC ESO Public Survey

Abstract

The VISTA near-infrared YJKs survey of the Magellanic Clouds system (VMC) has entered its core phase: about 50% of the observations across the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC, SMC), the Magellanic Bridge and Stream have already been secured and the data are processed and analysed regularly. The initial analyses, concentrated on the first two completed tiles in the LMC (including 30 Doradus and the South Ecliptic Pole), show the superior quality of the data. The photometric depth of the VMC survey allows the derivation of the star formation history (SFH) with unprecedented quality compared to previous widearea surveys, while reddening maps of high angular resolution are constructed using red clump stars. The multi-epoch Ks-band data reveal tight period–luminosity relations for variable stars and permit the measurement of accurate proper motions of the stellar populations. The VMC survey continues to acquire data that will address many issues in the field of star and galaxy evolution