Effects of ram pressure on the gas distribution and star formation in
  the Large Magellanic Cloud
  We use high resolution N-body/SPH simulations to study the hydrodynamical
interaction between the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the hot halo of the
Milky Way. We investigate whether ram-pressure acting on the satellite's ISM
can explain the peculiarities observed in the HI distribution and the location
of the recent star formation activity. Due to the present nearly edge-on
orientation of the disk with respect to the orbital motion, compression at the
leading edge can explain the high density region observed in HI at the
south-east border. In the case of a face-on disk (according to Mastropietro et
al. 2008 the LMC was moving almost face-on before the last perigalactic
passage), ram-pressure directed perpendicularly to the disk produces a clumpy
structure characterized by voids and high density filaments that resemble those
observed by the Parkes HI survey. As a consequence of the very recent edge-on
motion, the H-alpha emission is mainly concentrated on the eastern side where
30 Doradus and most of the supergiant shells are located, although some H-alpha
complexes form a patchy distribution on the entire disk. In this scenario only
the youngest stellar complexes show a progression in age along the leading
border of the disk.
