Were the Large Magellanic Cloud Globular Clusters Formed in a Disk?
The radial velocities of the 13 globular clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud have a dispersion of 28 km s-1 relative to the H I rotation curve of the LMC, compared with a dispersion of 30 km s-1 with regard to the mean globular cluster velocity. This shows that, contrary to a suggestion made by Schommer et al. in 1992, one cannot yet rule out the possibility that the LMC globular clusters formed in a pressure-supported halo, rather than in a rotating disk. The globular clusters in the LMC may therefore, after all, exhibit a relationship between age and kinematics that is similar to that of the clusters in M33.
