Letter to the Editor

The VMC survey

LV. The coherent expansion of the SMC

¹ Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam, Haus 28, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24/25, D-14476 Golm (Potsdam), Germany
² Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam, An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam, Germany
³ Lennard-Jones Laboratories, Keele University, Keele ST5 5BG, United Kingdom
⁴ ICRAR, M468, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia
⁵ School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Macquarie University, Balaclava Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
⁶ Astrophysics and Space Technologies Research Centre, Macquarie University, Balaclava Road, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
⁷ International Space Science Institute–Beijing, 1 Nanertiao, Zhongguancun, Hai Dian District, Beijing 100190, China
⁸ Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Koramangala II Block, Bangalore 560034, India
⁹ European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei München, Germany

^★ Corresponding author.

Received: 12 February 2026
Accepted: 21 May 2026

Abstract

Context. The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) exhibits significant kinematic disequilibrium due to interactions with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).

Aims. Here, we investigate the two-dimensional stellar kinematics of the SMC to understand the dynamical effects of these interactions by exploiting the increased time baseline of 6−11 years from the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC) data release 7.

Methods. We derive proper motions with a threefold improvement in precision compared to previous studies based on VMC data. We used a geometric framework accounting for perspective effects from line-of-sight motion to model the systemic motion across the SMC and construct a residual proper motion map. We further introduce an anisotropic linear velocity gradient model to quantify the stretching of the galaxy.

Results. For the first time across all stellar populations, the residual proper motion map reveals expansion along the south-east and north-west directions, consistent with LMC-induced tidal forces, detectable even in the central regions. The gradient-corrected residuals show predominantly radial motions towards the SMC centre with no evidence of rotation. Velocity maps for different stellar populations, without assuming a rotating-disk model, reveal a coherent northward motion away from the centre exclusively in older red giant branch stars, interpreted as a kinematic signature of a past (> 2 Gyr ago) interaction.

Conclusions. This study highlights the inadequacy of simple rotating-disk models in capturing the internal kinematics of the galaxy.