The Star Formation History of the Large Magellanic Cloud

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dc.creatorSmecker-Hane, Tammy A.
dc.creatorCole, Andrew A.
dc.creatorGallagher III, John S.
dc.creatorStetson, Peter B.
dc.date2001-09-25
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T11:45:59Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T11:45:59Z
dc.descriptionUsing WFPC2 aboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we have created deep color-magnitude diagrams in the V and I passbands for approximately 100,000 stars in a field at the center of the LMC bar and another in the disk. The main--sequence luminosity functions (LFs) from 19 mag < V < 23.5 mag, the red clump and horizontal branch morphologies, and the differential Hess diagram of the two fields all strongly imply that the disk and bar have significantly different star-formation histories (SFHs). The disk's SFH has been relatively smooth and continuous over the last 15 Gyr while the bar's SFH was dominated by star formation episodes at intermediate ages. Comparison of the LF against predictions based on Padova theoretical stellar evolution models and an assumed age-metallicity relationship allows us to identify the dominant stellar populations in the bar with episodes of star formation that occurred from 4 to 6 and 1 to 2 Gyr ago. These events accounted, respectively, for approximately 25% and 15% of its stellar mass. The disk field may share a mild enhancement in SF for the younger episode, and thus we identify the 4 to 6 Gyr episode with the formation of the LMC bar.
dc.description14 pages, 5 figures, Latex, also available at http://www.ps.uci.edu/physics/smeckerhane.html. Accepted for publication in ApJ
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0109458
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0109458
dc.identifierAstrophys.J.566:239-244,2002
dc.identifierdoi:10.1086/337985
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/202069
dc.subjectAstrophysics
dc.titleThe Star Formation History of the Large Magellanic Cloud
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