| Table of Contents Preface Acknowledgements 1 Introduction 2 The distances of the Clouds 2.1 The reddening, foreground and internal 2.2 Distance determinations with the aid of Cepheids 2.3 Distance determinations with the aid of RR Lyrae variables 2.4 Distance determinations with the aid of Mira variables 2.5 Distance determinations with the aid of clusters 2.6 Distance determinations with the aid of field stars 2.7 Summary of distance determinations 3 The Clouds as galaxies 3.1 Models of the Magellanic System 3.2 Proper motions of the LMC and the SMC 3.3 Transverse motions of the LMC and the SMC 3.4 Integrated properties of the LMC and the SMC 3.5 The geometry of the Clouds 3.6 The structure of the LMC 3.7 The structure of the SMC 3.8 Gaseous coronae? 3.9 The Magellanic Stream 3.10 The InterCloud region 3.11 The generations in the Magellanic Clouds 4 The cluster population 4.1 Surveys 4.2 The classification of Cloud clusters 4.3 The surface distribution of clusters in the Clouds 4.4 The age distribution of Cloud clusters 4.5 The structure of Cloud clusters 4.6 Binary clusters 4.7 Individual clusters 5 The youngest field population 5.1 O stars and B-G supergiants 5.2 The most luminous stars 5.3 Wolf-Rayet stars 5.4 The red supergiants 5.5 Supergiant stars with circumstellar shells 5.6 Supergiant stars in small HII regions 5.7 Multiple stars in the LMC 5.8 Multiple stars in the SMC 5.9 Infrared protostars 5.10 The stellar associations 6 The superassociations and supergiant shells 6.1 Superassociations in the LMC 6.2 Superassociations in the SMC 7 The intermediate-age and oldest field populations 7.1 Main-sequence stars 7.2 Red-giant stars 7.3 The carbon stars 7.4 The CH stars 7.5 Long-period variables 7.6 OH/IR stars and IRAS sources 7.7 Planetary nebulae 7.8 Novae 8 The interstellar medium 8.1 The neutral hydrogen 8.2 The ionized hydrogen 8.3 Some well-studied emission nebulae in the 8.4 The molecular content 8.5 The thermal and non-thermal components 8.6 The dust content 8.7 Interstellar absorption lines 8.8 Diffuse interstellar bands 9 X-ray emission and supernova remnants 9.1 X-ray observations of the LMC 9.2 X-ray observations of the SMC 9.3 Supernova remnants in the Clouds 9.4 SN 1987A 10 The 30 Doradus complex 10.1 The extinction in the 30 Doradus region 10.2 The morphology of the 30 Doradus nebula 10.3 The kinematics of the 30 Doradus nebula 10.4 The stellar content of the 30 Doradus region 10.5 Comparison of the R136 cluster with galactic clusters 11 Chemical abundances 11.1 Element abundances in the interstellar medium 11.2 Element abundances in clusters 11.3 Element abundances in hot field stars and Cepheids 11.4 Element abundances in cool field stars 11.5 Element abundances in planetary nebulae 11.6 Summary of abundance determinations 12 The structure and kinematics of the Magellanic System 12.1 The structure and kinematics of the 12.2 The structure and kinematics of the SMC 12.3 The motions in the Magellanic Stream and in the Bridge Appendix 1 Acronyms and abbreviations used frequently in the text Appendix 2 Reviews and proceedings Bibliography Object index Subject index |