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We present an N-body model that reproduces the morphology and kinematics ofthe Magellanic Stream (MS), a vast neutral hydrogen (HI) structure that trailsbehind the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC, respectively) intheir orbit about the Milky Way. After investigating 8 million possible orbitsconsistent with the latest proper motions, we adopt an orbital history in whichthe LMC and SMC have only recently become a strongly interacting binary pair.We find that their first close encounter 2 Gyr ago provides the necessary tidalforces to disrupt the disk of the SMC and thereby create the MS. The model alsoreproduces the on-sky bifurcation of the two filaments of the MS, and wesuggest that a bound association with the Milky Way is required to reproducethe bifurcation. Additional HI structures are created during the tidalevolution of the SMC disk, including the Magellanic Bridge, the"Counter-Bridge", and two branches of leading material. Insights into thechemical evolution of the LMC are also provided, as a substantial fraction ofthe material stripped away from the SMC is engulfed by the LMC. Lastly wecompare three different N-body realizations of the stellar component of theSMC, which we model as a pressure-supported spheroid motivated by recentkinematical observations. We find that an extended spheroid is better able toexplain the stellar periphery of the SMC, and the tidal evolution of thespheroid may imply the existence of a stellar stream akin to the gaseous MS.

The Tidal Origin of the Magellanic Stream and the Possibility of a Stellar Counterpart