The star-formation history of the Magellanic Clouds (Indu & Subramanian)

Vol. 535
In section 4. Extragalactic astronomy

The recent star-formation history of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds

Using the photometric data available from the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE-III) and the Magellanic Cloud Photometric Survey (MCPS) the authors have created spatial distribution maps of the last star formation events over both the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. These age maps show that the star formation in both systems over the past few hundred Myr has shrunk towards the central regions. Most of the recent star formation in the LMC is located in the north and northeast of the galaxy, similar to HI gas distribution. This and the direction of the shift in the centroid of the population suggests that this enhanced star formation is related to the HI gas being pulled to the north in the LMC due to the gravitational interaction with our Galaxy and its motion in the Galactic halo. In the SMC there is a shift in the centroid of the population in the direction of the LMC. This suggests the combined effects of the LMC and our Galaxy on the recent star formation in the SMC.