Abstract
We use a new contiguous imaging survey conducted using the Dark Energy
Camera to investigate the distribution and properties of young stellar
populations in the Magellanic inter-Cloud region. These young stars are
strongly spatially clustered, forming a narrow chain of low-mass
associations that trace the densest H I gas in the Magellanic Bridge and
extend, in projection, from the SMC to the outer disc of the LMC. The
associations in our survey footprint have ages ≲ 30 Myr, masses in
the range ∼100-1200 M⊙ and very diffuse structures
with half-light radii of up to ∼100 pc. The two most populous are
strongly elliptical and aligned to ≈10°, with the axis joining
the centres of the LMC and the SMC. These observations strongly suggest
that the young inter-Cloud populations formed in situ, likely due to the
compression of gas stripped during the most recent close LMC-SMC
encounter. The associations lie at distances intermediate between the
two Clouds, and we find no evidence for a substantial distance gradient
across the imaged area. Finally, we identify a vast shell of young stars
surrounding a central association, that is spatially coincident with a
low column density bubble in the H I distribution. The properties of
this structure are consistent with a scenario where stellar winds and
supernova explosions from massive stars in the central cluster swept up
the ambient gas into a shell, triggering a new burst of star formation.
This is a prime location for studying stellar feedback in a relatively
isolated environment.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2975-2989 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
Volume | 472 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1-Dec-2017 |
Keywords
- galaxies: interactions
- galaxies: ISM
- Magellanic Clouds
- galaxies: star formation
- galaxies: structure