THE HALO OF THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD - KINEMATICS OF THE CH STARS

This paper examines the properties of the LMC halo through the kinematics of its CH stars, which are known to be excellent halo tracers in the Galaxy. Velocities have been measured for 40 CH stars lying in the direction of LMC. These supplement 41 previously determined values. The main result of this investigation is that the distribution of CH-star velocities is asymmetrical, possessing a relatively sharp cutoff at the high-velocity end with an extended low-velocity tail. We speculate that the asymmetry arises from two discrete groups of CH stars, one associated with the old globular cluster population and a second with the LMC disk.