SIMBAD references

The spatial distribution of sources populating different regions of the colour-magnitude diagram (I-J, I) extracted from the DENIS catalogue towards the Magellanic Clouds (DCMC - Cioni et al., 2000A&AS..144..235C) reveal significantly different morphologies. Each region is associated to a different age group. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) shows an extended circular shape with a prominent, off center bar, a nucleus and irregular spiral arms. The Small Magellanic Cloud shows a perturbated structure with a prominent central concentration of stars. Old and young populations are offset from one another.