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Spatial variations in the star formation history of the Large Magellanic Cloud

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 July 2008

Carme Gallart ,
Ingrid Meschin ,
Antonio Aparicio ,
Peter B. Stetson  and
Sebastián L. Hidalgo
Carme Gallart
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. 38200 La Laguna. Tenerife, Spain email: carme@iac.es, imeschin@iac.es, antapaj@iac.es, shidalgo@iac.es
Ingrid Meschin
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. 38200 La Laguna. Tenerife, Spain email: carme@iac.es, imeschin@iac.es, antapaj@iac.es, shidalgo@iac.es
Antonio Aparicio
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. 38200 La Laguna. Tenerife, Spain email: carme@iac.es, imeschin@iac.es, antapaj@iac.es, shidalgo@iac.es
Peter B. Stetson
Affiliation:
Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics, National Research Council, Victoria, BC, CanadaV9E 2E7 email: Peter.Stetson@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Sebastián L. Hidalgo
Affiliation:
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. 38200 La Laguna. Tenerife, Spain email: carme@iac.es, imeschin@iac.es, antapaj@iac.es, shidalgo@iac.es
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Abstract

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Based on the quantitative analysis of a set of wide-field color—magnitude diagrams reaching the old main sequence-turnoffs, we present new LMC star-formation histories, and their variation with galactocentric distance. Some coherent features are found, together with systematic variations of the star-formation history among the three fields analyzed. We find two main episodes of star formation in all three fields, from 1 to 4 and 7 to 13 Gyr ago, with relatively low star formation around ≃ 4–7 Gyr ago. The youngest age in each field gradually increases with galactocentric radius; in the innermost field, LMC 0514–6503, an additional star formation event younger than 1 Gyr is detected, with star formation declining, however, in the last ≃ 200 Myr. The population is found to be older on average toward the outer part of the galaxy, although star formation in all fields seems to have started around 13 Gyr ago.

Keywords

galaxies: evolutiongalaxies: formationgalaxies: individual (LMC)Magellanic Clouds
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 4 , Symposium S256: The Magellanic System: Stars, Gas, and Galaxies , July 2008 , pp. 281 - 286
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2009

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