J/AJ/138/1243 The star formation history of the LMC (Harris+, 2009)
The star formation history of the Large Magellanic Cloud
Harris J., Zaritsky D
<Astron. J. 138, 1243 (2009)>
=2009AJ....138.1243H 2009AJ....138.1243H
ADC_Keywords: Magellanic Clouds ; Galaxies, photometry ; Surveys
Keywords: galaxies: evolution - galaxies: individual (Large Magellanic Cloud) -
galaxies: stellar content - Magellanic Clouds
Abstract:
We present the first ever global, spatially resolved reconstruction of
the star formation history (SFH) of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC),
based on the application of our StarFISH analysis software to the
multiband photometry of 20 million of its stars from the Magellanic
Clouds Photometric Survey (MCPS). The general outlines of our results
are consistent with previously published results: following an initial
burst of star formation, there was a quiescent epoch from
approximately 12 to 5Gyr ago. Star formation then resumed and has
proceeded until the current time at an average rate of roughly
0.2M☉/yr, with temporal variations at the factor of 2 level.
Description:
The Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey (MCPS; Zaritsky et al.
1997AJ....114.1002Z 1997AJ....114.1002Z) was undertaken at the Las Campanas Observatory's
1m Swope Telescope, between 1995 and 2000. We obtained images with U,
B, V, and I filters, reaching a limiting magnitude between V=20 and
V=21mag, depending on the local degree of crowding in the images.
For details on the data reduction, construction of the photometric
catalog, and quality assurance tests, see Zaritsky et al. (2002,
Cat. J/AJ/123/855). We use both the B-V and V-I CMD planes in
determining the best-fit star formation history (SFH).
Objects:
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RA (2000) DE Designation(s)
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05 23 34.6 -69 45 22 LMC = NAME LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD
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File Summary:
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FileName Lrecl Records Explanations
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ReadMe 80 . This file
table2.dat 84 22016 The Star Formation History of the LMC
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See also:
II/232 : UBV photometry of selected regions in the MCs (Braun 2001)
J/A+A/517/A50 : Ages + luminosities of young SMC/LMC star clusters (Glatt+,
2010)
J/ApJS/184/1 : Molecular clouds in the LMC by NANTEN. II. (Kawamura+, 2009)
J/AJ/136/18 : LMC SAGE. New candidate YSOs (Whitney+, 2008)
J/AJ/127/1531 : Star formation history of SMC (Harris+, 2004)
J/AJ/128/1606 : Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey: the LMC (Zaritsky+, 2004)
J/AJ/123/855 : Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey: the SMC (Zaritsky+, 2002)
J/AJ/117/2244 : HST color-magnitude diagrams of the LMC (Olsen, 1999)
Byte-by-byte Description of file: table2.dat
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Bytes Format Units Label Explanations
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1- 5 A5 --- Reg Region identification
7- 8 I2 h RAh Hour of Right Ascension (J2000)
10- 11 I2 min RAm Minute of Right Ascension (J2000)
13 A1 --- DE- Sign of the Declination (J2000)
14- 15 I2 deg DEd Degree of Declination (J2000)
17- 18 I2 arcmin DEm Arcminute of Declination (J2000)
20- 24 F5.2 [yr] logAge Log of the Age
26- 30 I5 Msun/Myr SFR8 Best Star Formation Rate with Z=0.008
32- 36 I5 Msun/Myr b_SFR8 Lower limit on SFR8
38- 42 I5 Msun/Myr B_SFR8 Upper limit on SFR8
44- 47 I4 Msun/Myr SFR4 Best Star Formation Rate with Z=0.004
49- 52 I4 Msun/Myr b_SFR4 Lower limit on SFR4
54- 57 I4 Msun/Myr B_SFR4 Upper limit on SFR4
59- 61 I3 Msun/Myr SFR2.5 Best Star Formation Rate with Z=0.0025
63- 65 I3 Msun/Myr b_SFR2.5 Lower limit on SFR25
67- 69 I3 Msun/Myr B_SFR2.5 Upper limit on SFR25
71- 74 I4 Msun/Myr SFR1 Best Star Formation Rate with Z=0.001
76- 79 I4 Msun/Myr b_SFR1 Lower limit on SFR1
81- 84 I4 Msun/Myr B_SFR1 Upper limit on SFR1
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History:
From electronic version of the journal
(End) Greg Schwarz [AAS], Emmanuelle Perret [CDS] 23-Jan-2012