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A CO Survey of the LMC with NANTEN: III. Formation of Stellar Clusters and Evolution of Molecular Clouds
In order to elucidate star formation in the LMC, we made a completestudy of CO clouds with NANTEN. In the present paper, we compare 55giant molecular clouds (GMCs), whose physical quantities were welldetermined, with young objects, such as young stellar clusters and HIIregions. We find that the GMCs are actively forming stars and clusters;23 and 40 are found to be associated with the clusters and the HIIregions, respectively. The clusters associated with the GMCs aresignificantly young; ~ 85% of them are younger than ~ 10 Myr. Inaddition, compact groups of the young clusters are often found at thepeak position of the GMCs, e.g., N 159 and N 44, while much loosergroups are away from the GMCs. This suggests that the clusters areformed in groups and disperse as they become old. The distributions ofthe CO, [CII], and UV indicate that the GMCs are likely to be rapidlydissipated within several Myr due to UV photons from the clusters. Wealso estimate the evolutionary time scale of the GMCs; they form starsin a few Myr after their birth, and form clusters during the next fewMyr, and are dissipated in the subsequent few Myr.
| Ultraviolet and Optical Observations of OB Associations and Field Stars in the Southwest Region of the Large Magellanic Cloud
Using ultraviolet photometry from the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope(UIT) combined with photometry and spectroscopy from three ground-basedoptical data sets we have analyzed the stellar content of OBassociations and field areas in and around the regions N79, N81, N83,and N94 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. In particular, we compare datafor the OB association Lucke-Hodge 2 (LH 2) to determine how stronglythe initial mass function (IMF) may depend on different photometricreductions and calibrations. Although the data sets exhibit medianphotometric differences of up to 30%, the resulting uncorrected IMFs arereasonably similar, typically Γ~-1.6 in the 5-60 Msolarmass range. However, when we correct for the background contribution offield stars, the calculated IMF flattens to Γ=-1.3+/-0.2 (similarto the Salpeter IMF slope). This change underlines the importance ofcorrecting for field star contamination in determinations of the IMF ofstar formation regions. It is possible that even in the case of anuniversal IMF, the variability of the density of background stars couldbe the dominant factor creating the differences between calculated IMFsfor OB associations. We have also combined the UIT data with the mostextensive of these ground-based optical data sets-the Magellanic CloudPhotometric Survey-to study the distribution of the candidate O-typestars in the field. We find a significant fraction, roughly half, of thecandidate O-type stars are found in field regions, far from any obviousOB associations (in accord with the 1982 suggestions of Garmany, Conti,& Chiosi for O-type stars in the solar neighborhood). These starsare greater than 2' (30 pc) from the boundaries of existing OBassociations in the region, which is a distance greater than most O-typestars with typical dispersion velocities will travel in their lifetimes.The origin of these massive field stars (either as runaways, members oflow-density star-forming regions, or examples of isolated massive starformation) will have to be determined by further observations andanalysis.
| The Progenitor Masses of Wolf-Rayet Stars and Luminous Blue Variables Determined from Cluster Turnoffs. I. Results from 19 OB Associations in the Magellanic Clouds
We combine new CCD UBV photometry and spectroscopy with those from theliterature to investigate 19 Magellanic Cloud OB associations thatcontain Wolf-Rayet (W-R) and other types of evolved, massive stars. Ourspectroscopy reveals a wealth of newly identified interesting objects,including early O-type supergiants, a high-mass, double-lined binary inthe SMC, and, in the LMC, a newly confirmed luminous blue variable (LBV;R85), a newly discovered W-R star (Sk -69°194), and a newly foundluminous B[e] star (LH 85-10). We use these data to provide precisereddening determinations and construct physical H-R diagrams for theassociations. We find that about half of the associations may be highlycoeval, with the massive stars having formed over a short period(Δτ<1 Myr). The (initial) masses of the highest massunevolved stars in the coeval clusters may be used to estimate themasses of the progenitors of W-R and other evolved stars found in theseclusters. Similarly, the bolometric luminosities of the highest massunevolved stars can be used to determine the bolometric corrections(BCs) for the evolved stars, providing a valuable observational basisfor evaluating recent models of these complicated atmospheres. What wefind is the following: (1) Although their numbers is small, it appearsthat the W-R stars in the SMC come from only the highest mass (greaterthan 70 Msolar) stars. This is in accord with ourexpectations that at low metallicities only the most massive andluminous stars will have sufficient mass loss to become W-R stars. (2)In the LMC, the early-type WN (WNE) stars occur in clusters whoseturnoff masses range from 30 to 100 Msolar or more. Thissuggests that possibly all stars with mass greater than 30Msolar pass through a WNE stage at LMC metallicities. (3) Theone WC star in the SMC is found in a cluster with a turnoff mass of 70Msolar, the same as that for the SMC WN stars. In the LMC,the WC stars are found in clusters with turnoff masses of 45Msolar or higher, similar to what is found for the LMC WNstars. Thus we conclude that WC stars come from essentially the samemass range as do WN stars and indeed are often found in the sameclusters. This has important implications for interpreting therelationship between metallicity and the WC/WN ratio found in LocalGroup galaxies, which we discuss. (4) The LBVs in our sample come fromvery high mass stars (greater than 85 Msolar), similar towhat is known for the Galactic LBV η Car, suggesting that only themost massive stars go through an LBV phase. Recently, Ofpe/WN9 starshave been implicated as LBVs after one such star underwent an LBV-likeoutburst. However, our study includes two Ofpe/WN9 stars, BE 381 and Br18, which we find in clusters with much lower turnoff masses (25-35Msolar). We suggest that Ofpe/WN9 stars are unrelated to``true'' LBVs: not all ``LBV-like outbursts'' may have the same cause.Similarly, the B[e] stars have sometimes been described as LBV-like.Yet, the two stars in our sample appear to come from a large mass range(30-60 Msolar). This is consistent with other studies,suggesting that B[e] stars cover a large range in bolometricluminosities. (5) The bolometric corrections of early WN and WC starsare found to be extreme, with an average BC(WNE) of -6.0 mag and anaverage BC(WC4) of -5.5 mag. These values are considerably more negativethan those of even the hottest O-type stars. However, similar valueshave been found for WNE stars by applying Hillier's ``standard model''for W-R atmospheres. We find more modest BCs for the Ofpe/WN9 stars(BC=-2 to -4 mag), also consistent with recent analysis done with thestandard model. Extension of these studies to the Galactic clusters willprovide insight into how massive stars evolve at differentmetallicities.
| A Revised and Extended Catalog of Magellanic System Clusters, Associations, and Emission Nebulae. II. The Large Magellanic Cloud
A survey of extended objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud was carriedout on the ESO/SERC R and J Sky Survey Atlases, checking entries inprevious catalogs and searching for new objects. The census provided6659 objects including star clusters, emission-free associations, andobjects related to emission nebulae. Each of these classes containsthree subclasses with intermediate properties, which are used to infertotal populations. The survey includes cross identifications amongcatalogs, and we present 3246 new objects. We provide accuratepositions, classification, and homogeneous measurements of sizes andposition angles, as well as information on cluster pairs andhierarchical relation for superimposed objects. This unification andenlargement of catalogs is important for future searches of fainter andsmaller new objects. We discuss the angular and size distributions ofthe objects of the different classes. The angular distributions show twooff-centered systems with different inclinations, suggesting that theLMC disk is warped. The present catalog together with its previouscounterpart for the SMC and the inter-Cloud region provide a totalpopulation of 7847 extended objects in the Magellanic System. Theangular distribution of the ensemble reveals important clues on theinteraction between the LMC and SMC.
| Integrated UBV Photometry of 624 Star Clusters and Associations in the Large Magellanic Cloud
We present a catalog of integrated UBV photometry of 504 star clustersand 120 stellar associations in the LMC, part of them still embedded inemitting gas. We study age groups in terms of equivalent SWB typesderived from the (U-B) X (B-V) diagram. The size of the spatialdistributions increases steadily with age (SWB types), whereas adifference of axial ratio exists between the groups younger than 30 Myrand those older, which implies a nearly face-on orientation for theformer and a tilt of ~45^deg^ for the latter groups. Asymmetries arepresent in the spatial distributions, which, together with thenoncoincidence of the centroids for different age groups, suggest thatthe LMC disk was severely perturbed in the past.
| Age determination of extragalactic H II regions
The H II region evolution models of Copetti et al. (1984) were comparedwith observational data of H II regions in the Magellanic Clouds, M 33,M 101 and of 'isolated extragalactic H II regions'. IMF with chi = 3 or2.5 are inconsistent with a large number of H II regions. The moreuniform age distribution of isolated extragalactic H II regions obtainedthrough an IMF with chi = 2 suggests that this value is more realisticthan chi = 1 or 1.5. The H II region age estimates indicate a burst ofstar formation about 5.5 + or - 1.0 10 to the -6th yr ago in the LMC andabout 2.3 + or - 0.9 x 10 to the 6th yr ago in the SMC. The observedforbidden O III/H-beta gradient in M 33 and M 101 must be caused bycolor temperature variation of the radiation ionizing the H II regions.
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