Resolving the compact regions in N160A with ^*

¹ , Observatoire de Paris, 61 avenue de l'Observatoire, 75014 Paris, France
² Cornell University, Astronomy Department, 106 Space Sciences Bldg., Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
³ Observatoire de Marseille, 2 place Le Verrier, 13248 Marseille Cedex 4, France
⁴ Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility, European Southern Observatory, , 85748 Garching bei München, Germany
⁵ Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, 14 avenue É. Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France
⁶ Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam, An der Sternwarte 16, 14482 Potsdam, Germany

Corresponding author: M. Heydari-Malayeri, heydari@obspm.fr

Received: 25 September 2001
Accepted: 25 October 2001

Abstract

Using high-resolution imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope, we study the Large Magellanic Cloud H ii region N160A and uncover several striking features of this complex massive star-forming site. The two compact high excitation H ii  blobs (HEBs) A1 and A2 are for the first time resolved and their stellar content and morphology is revealed. A1, being of higher excitation, is powered by a single massive star whose strong wind has created a surrounding bubble. A2 harbors several exciting stars enshrouded by large quantities of dust. The whole N160A nebula is energized by three star clusters for which we obtain photometry and study their color-magnitude diagram. The H ii region is particularly dusty, with extinction values reaching an A_V ~ 2.5 mag in the visible, and it is separated from the molecular cloud by an outstanding ionization front. A previously detected infrared young stellar object is also accurately located with respect to the H ii region.