Recent observational studies of intermediate-age star clusters (SCs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) have reported that a significant number of these objects show double main-sequence turn-offs (DMSTOs) in their color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). One plausible explanation for the origin of these DMSTOs is that the SCs are composed of two different stellar populations with age differences of ~ 300 Myr. Based on analytical methods and numerical simulations, we explore a new scenario in which SCs interact and merge with star-forming giant molecular clouds (GMCs) to form new composite SCs with two distinct component populations. In this new scenario, the possible age differences between the two different stellar populations responsible for the DMSTOs are due largely to secondary star formation within GMCs interacting and merging with already-existing SCs in the LMC disk. The total gas masses being converted into new stars (i.e., the second generation of stars) during GMC-SC interaction and merging can be comparable to or larger than the masses of the original SCs (i.e, the first generation of stars) in this scenario. Our simulations show that the spatial distributions of new stars in composite SCs formed from GMC-SC merging are more compact than those of stars initially in the SCs. We discuss both advantages and disadvantages of the new scenario in explaining fundamental properties of SCs with DMSTOs in the LMC and in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We also discuss the merits of various alternative scenarios for the origin of the DMSTOs.
The HST proper motion (PM) measurements of the Clouds have severe implications for their interaction history with the Milky Way (MW) and with each other. The Clouds are likely on their first passage about the MW and the SMC's orbit about the LMC is better described as quasi-periodic rather than circular. Binary L/SMC orbits that satisfy observational constraints on their mutual interaction history (e.g. the formation of the Magellanic Bridge during a collision between the Clouds ~300 Myr ago) can be located within 1 sigma of the mean PMs. However, these binary orbits are not co-located with th…
The spatial distribution of sources populating different regions of the colour-magnitude diagram (I-J, I) extracted from the DENIS catalogue towards the Magellanic Clouds (DCMC -- Cioni et al. 2000) reveal significantly different morphologies. Each region is associated to a different age group. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) shows an extended circular shape with a prominent, off center bar, a nucleus and irregular spiral arms. The Small Magellanic Cloud shows a perturbated structure with a prominent central concentration of stars. Old and young populations are offset from one another.
The off-centered "bar" of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is commonly assumed, for simplicity's sake, to lie in the same plane as the LMC disk. Relaxing this assumption to the extent allowed by the observations, we can drastically change our interpretation of the microlensing events towards the LMC. We propose that the off-centered ``bar'' in the Large Magellanic Cloud is a foreground object slightly misaligned with, and offset from, the plane of the LMC disk. The small displacement and misalignment are consequences of recent tidal interactions with the Small Magellanic Cloud and the Galaxy. …
We present deep colour-magnitude diagrams for three rich intermediate-age star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud, constructed from archival ACS F435W and F814W imaging. All three clusters exhibit clear evidence for peculiar main-sequence turn-offs. NGC 1846 and 1806 each possess two distinct turn-off branches, while the turn-off for NGC 1783 shows a much larger spread in colour than can be explained by the photometric uncertainties. We demonstrate that although all three clusters contain significant populations of unresolved binary stars, these cannot be the underlying cause of the observ…
We combine new CCD UBV photometry and spectroscopy with that from the literature to investigate 19 Magellanic Cloud OB associations that contain Wolf-Rayet (WR) and other types of evolved massive stars. Our spectroscopy reveals a wealth of newly identified interesting objects, including early O-type supergiants, a high mass double-lined binary in the SMC, and, in the LMC, a newly confirmed LBV (R 85), a newly discovered WR star (Sk-69 194), and a newly found luminous B[e] star (LH85-10). We use the data to evaluate the extent that each association is coeval, and for the ones with little age sp…
Distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is determined using the Cepheid variables in the LMC. We combine the individual LMC Cepheid distances obtained from the infrared surface brightness method and a dataset with a large number of LMC Cepheids. Using the standard least squares method, the LMC distance modulus can be found from the ZP offsets of these two samples. We have adopted both a linear P-L relation and a ``broken'' P-L relation in our calculations. The resulting LMC distance moduli are 18.48+-0.03 mag and 18.49+-0.04 mag (random error only), respectively, which are consistent to t…
We report on HST/ACS photometry of the rich intermediate-age star cluster NGC 1846 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, which clearly reveals the presence of a double main sequence turn-off in this object. Despite this, the main sequence, sub-giant branch, and red giant branch are all narrow and well-defined, and the red clump is compact. We examine the spatial distribution of turn-off stars and demonstrate that all belong to NGC 1846 rather than to any field star population. In addition, the spatial distributions of the two sets of turn-off stars may exhibit different central concentrations and som…
We have carried out Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 F160BW, F555W and F656N imaging of four young populous clusters: NGC 330 in the Small Magellanic Cloud and NGC 1818, NGC 2004 and NGC 2100 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We report photometric results for these four clusters, including identification using photometric colours of the cluster Be star population. We present theoretical WFPC2 and broad band colours and bolometric corrections for LMC and SMC metallicities. The use of the far-UV F160BW filter enables accurate determination of the effective temperatures for stars in the vicinity of the…
We present deep ground-based {\it B} and {\it R} observations of 12 fields in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The resulting color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) reach the oldest main-sequence (MS) turnoff at M$_{R}$$\thicksim$3.5 and reveal the stellar population differences between the part of the galaxy facing the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and an area on the opposite side. In the Southern part of the galaxy, we found that there are still intermediate-age stars as far as 4 kpc from the SMC center. The Chemical Enrichment History (CEH) in one of our SMC fields is also presented.
We present ground-based B and R-band color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), reaching the oldest main-sequence turnoffs with good photometric accuracy for twelve fields in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). Our fields, located between ~1 and ~4 degrees from the center of the galaxy, are situated in different parts of the SMC such as the "Wing'' area, and towards the West and South. In this paper we perform a first analysis of the stellar content in our SMC fields through comparison with theoretical isochrones and color functions (CFs). We find that the underlying spheroidally distributed population is…
We report the first results of a color-magnitude diagram survey of 25 candidate old LMC clusters. For almost all of the sample, it was possible to reach the turnoff region, and in many clusters we have several magnitudes of the main sequence. Age estimates based on the magnitude difference $δT_1$ between the giant branch clump and the turnoff revealed that no new old clusters were found. The candidates turned out to be of intermediate age (1-3 Gyr) We show that the apparently old ages as inferred from integrated UBV colors can be explained by a combination of stochastic effects produced by bri…
We present both low and high-dispersion abundance analyses of giants drawn from the zero proper motion sample near NGC 121. For the sample of 35 stars, the mean metallicity of the SMC field near NGC 121 is [Fe/H]=-1.3 with a real dispersion of 0.4 dex. The most metal-rich stars are at -0.5 dex and the most metal-poor stars at -2.1 dex. The velocity dispersion of the sample is 25 km/s. The dispersion of various kinematic samples in the SMC is independent of age. The RGB colors are consistent with Galactic globular clusters of similar metallicity. The field population, however, does not have an …
We report new photometry of populous intermediate-age clusters in the SMC using the {\sl Hubble Space Telescope}. In contrast to the accepted picture, these clusters appear to have formed in two brief intervals, one $8\pm 2$ Gyr ago, and a more recent burst $2\pm 0.5$ Gyr ago. When the ridgelines of the four clusters (NGC 339, 361, 416, and Kron 3) in the 8 Gyr burst are aligned, the dispersion in turnoff luminosities is $<0.2$ mag, corresponding to a maximum age spread of $\pm 0.7$ Gyr. When the ridgelines of three clusters (NGC 152, 411, and 419) in the 2 Gyr burst are aligned, the maximum d…
We present colour-magnitude diagrams for two rich (~10^4 Msun) Large Magellanic Cloud star clusters with ages ~10^7 years, constructed from optical and near-infrared data obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. These data are part of an HST project to study LMC clusters with a range of ages. In this paper we investigate the massive star content of the young clusters, and determine the cluster ages and metallicities, paying particular attention to Be star and blue straggler populations and evidence of age spreads. We compare our data to detailed stellar population simulations to investigate t…
We present a geometrodynamical method for determining distances to orbital streams of HI gas in the Galaxy. The method makes use of our offset from the Galactic centre and assumes that the gas comprising the stream nearly follows a planar orbit about the Galactic centre. We apply this technique to the Magellanic Stream and determine the distances to all points along it; a consistency check shows that the angular momentum is approximately constant. Applying this technique to the Large Magellanic Cloud itself gives an independent distance which agrees within its accuracy of around 10%. Relaxing …
Colour-magnitude diagrams are presented for the first time for L32, L38, K28 (L43), K44 (L68) and L116, which are clusters projected onto the outer parts of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The photometry was carried out in the Washington system $C$ and $T_1$ filters allowing the determination of ages by means of the magnitude difference between the red giant clump and the main sequence turnoff, and metallicities from the red giant branch locus. The clusters have ages in the range 2-6 Gyr, and metallicities between $-1.65<$ [Fe/H] $<-1.10$, increasing the sample of intermediate-age clusters i…
We present our analysis of Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations in F555W (broadband V) and F450W (broadband B) of the globular cluster Hodge 11 in the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. The resulting V vs. (B-V) color-magnitude diagram reaches 2.4 mag below the main-sequence turnoff (which is at V_TO = 22.65 +- 0.10 mag or M_V^TO = 4.00 +- 0.16 mag). Comparing the fiducial sequence of Hodge 11 with that of the Galactic globular cluster M92, we conclude that, within the accuracy of our photometry, the age of Hodge 11 is identical to that of M92 with a relative age-diffe…
I present measurements of the projected rotational velocities of a sample of 100 early B-type main-sequence stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This is the first extragalactic study of the distribution of stellar rotational velocities. The sample is drawn from two sources: a sample derived from the vicinity of the main-sequence turnoff of young clusters (ages 1-3x10^7yrs), and a sample from the general field. I find the cluster population exhibits significantly more rapid rotation than that seen in the field. I have drawn analogous Galactic cluster and field samples from the literature. Compa…
We present a multiwavelength analysis of the supernova remnant N49 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Using high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope WFPC2 images of H-alpha, [S II] and [O III] emission, we study the morphology of the remnant and calculate the rms electron densities in different regions. We detect an offset of [O III] and H-alpha emission of about 0.5 arcsec, and discuss possible scenarios that could give rise to such high values. The kinematics of the remnant is analyzed by matching individual filaments to the echelle spectra obtained at CTIO. We detect narrow H-alpha emission compo…
We present IRAC and MIPS images and photometry of a sample of previously known planetary nebulae (PNe) from the SAGE survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) performed with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Of the 233 known PNe in the survey field, 185 objects were detected in at least two of the IRAC bands, and 161 detected in the MIPS 24 micron images. Color-color and color-magnitude diagrams are presented using several combinations of IRAC, MIPS, and 2MASS magnitudes. The location of an individual PN in the color-color diagrams is seen to depend on the relative contributions of the spectral co…
We have used the latest HI observations of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), obtained with the Australia Telescope Compact Array and the Parkes telescope, to re-examine the kinematics of this dwarf, irregular galaxy. A large velocity gradient is found in the HI velocity field with a significant symmetry in iso-velocity contours, suggestive of a differential rotation. A comparison of HI data with the predictions from tidal models for the SMC evolution suggests that the central region of the SMC corresponds to the central, disk- or bar-like, component left from the rotationally supported SMC dis…
High-resolution infrared spectra (R=50,000) have been obtained for twelve red-giant members of the LMC with the Gemini South 8.3-meter telescope plus Phoenix spectrometer. Quantitative chemical abundances of carbon-12, carbon-13, nitrogen-14, and oxygen-16 were derived from molecular lines of CO, CN, and OH, while sodium, scandium, titanium, and iron abundances were derived from neutral atomic lines. The LMC giants have masses from about 1 to 4 solar masses and span a metallicity range from [Fe/H]= -1.1 to -0.3. The program red giants all show evidence of first dredge-up mixing, with low 12C/1…
We present the results of a search for Be stars in six fields centered on the young clusters NGC 330 and NGC 346 in the SMC, and NGC 1818, NGC 1948, NGC 2004 and NGC 2100 in the LMC. Be stars were identified by differencing R band and narrow-band H$α$ CCD images. Our comparatively large images provide substantial Be star populations both within the clusters and in their surrounding fields. Magnitudes, positions and finding charts are given for the 224 Be stars found. The fraction of Be stars to normal B stars within each cluster is found to vary significantly although the average ratio is simi…
Here we examine 12 Galactic clusters and OB associations containing Wolf-Rayet stars (W-Rs) and/or Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), in order to assess the progentor masses of these evolved massive stars. We find that in the Milky Way, early-type WN stars evolve from stars with masses as low as 20Mo. Some early-type WN stars are found in clusters with very high turn-off masses, supporting our earlier results that the "WNE" class of W-Rs is a common stage in the evolution of stars with a wide range of mases. In contrast, the late-type WNs (particularly those of WN7 class) and the LBVs are only fo…
Metallicities ([Fe/H]) from low resolution spectroscopy obtained with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) are presented for 98 RR Lyrae and 3 short period Cepheids in the bar of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Our metal abundances have typical errors of +/-0.17 dex. The average metallicity of the RR Lyrae stars is [Fe/H]=-1.48 +/- 0.03 +/- 0.06 on the scale of Harris (1996). The star-to-star scatter (0.29 dex) is larger than the observational errors, indicating a real spread in metal abundances. The derived metallicities cover the range -2.12 < [Fe/H] <-0.27, but there are only a few stars having [Fe/H…
We present a high quality CMD for a 36'x 36' field located 8 degrees (7 kpc) from the LMC center, as well as a precise determination of the LMC surface brightness derived from the resolved stellar population out to this large galactocentric radius. This deep CMD shows for the first time the detailed age distribution at this position, where the surface brightness is V=26.5 mag/sq". At a radius R=474' the main sequence is well populated from the oldest turnoff at I=21.5 to the 2.5 Gyr turnoff at I=19.5. Beyond this radius, a relatively strong gradient in the density of stars with ages in the 2.5…
This work continues our efforts to calibrate model surface brightness luminosities for the study of unresolved stellar populations, through the comparison with data of Magellanic Cloud star clusters. We present here the relation between absolute K_s-band fluctuation magnitude and (V - I) integrated colour, using data from the 2MASS and DENIS surveys, and from the literature. We compare the star cluster sample with the sample of early-type galaxies and spiral bulges studied by Liu et al. (2002). We find that intermediate-age to old clusters lie along a linear correlation with the same slope, wi…
We have determined the proper motion (PM) of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) relative to four background quasi-stellar objects, combining data from two previous studies made by our group, and new observations carried out in four epochs not included the original investigations. The new observations provided a significant increase in the time base and in the number of frames, relative to what was available in our previous studies. We have derived a total LMC PM of $μ$ = ($+2.0\pm$0.1) mas yr$^{-1}$, with a position angle of $θ$ = (62.4$\pm$3.1)$^\circ$. Our new values agree well with most resul…
This paper presents the chemical abundance analysis of a sample of 27 red giant stars located in 4 popolous intermediate-age globular clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud, namely NGC 1651, 1783, 1978 and 2173. This analysis is based on high-resolution (R ~ 47000) spectra obtained with the UVES@VLT spectrograph. For each cluster we derived up to 20 abundance ratios sampling the main chemical elemental groups, namely light odd-Z, alpha, iron-peak and neutron-capture elements. All the analysed abundance patterns behave similarly in the 4 clusters and also show negligible star-to-star scatter wi…
We present high S/N integrated spectra of 24 star clusters in the LMC obtained using the FLAIR spectrograph at the UK Schmidt. The spectra have been placed onto the Lick/IDS system in order to test the calibration of Simple Stellar Population (SSP) models. We have compared the SSP-predicted metallicities of the clusters with literature Ca-Triplet values, and find that there is good agreement in the range --2.10 < [Fe/H] < 0. However, the magnesium indices systematically predict higher metallicities than iron, among the possible explanations for this are that the LMC clusters possess [alpha/Fe]…
The presence of blue straggler stars (BSs) in star clusters has proven a challenge to conventional simple stellar population (SSP) models. Conventional SSP models are based on the evolution theory of single stars. Meanwhile, the typical locations of BSs in the colour-magnitude diagram of a cluster are brighter and bluer than the main sequence turn-off point. Such loci cannot be predicted by single-star evolution theory. However, stars with such properties contribute significantly to the integrated light of the cluster. In this paper, we reconstruct the integrated properties of the Large Magell…
The second largest HII region in the Large Magellanic Cloud, N11B has been surveyed in the near IR.We present JHKs images of the N11B nebula.These images are combined with CO(1-0) emission line data and with archival NTT and HST/WFPC2 optical images to address the star formation activity of the region.IR photometry of all the IR sources detected is given.We confirm that a second generation of stars is currently forming in the N11B region. Our IR images show the presence of several bright IR sources which appear located towards the molecular cloud as seen from the CO emission in the area.Severa…
As first Paper of a series devoted to study the old stellar population in clusters and fields in the Small Magellanic Cloud, we present deep observations of NGC121 in the F555W and F814W filters, obtained with the Advanced Camera for Surveys on the Hubble Space Telescope. The resulting color-magnitude diagram reaches ~3.5 mag below the main-sequence turn-off; deeper than any previous data. We derive the age of NGC121 using both absolute and relative age-dating methods. Fitting isochrones in the ACS photometric system to the observed ridge line of NGC121, gives ages of 11.8 +- 0.5 Gyr (Teramo),…
We present our analysis of archival Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 observations in F555W (~V) and F450W (~B) of the intermediate-age populous star cluster NGC 416 in the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy. We use published photometry of two other SMC populous star clusters, Lindsay 1 and Lindsay 113, to investigate the age sequence of these three star clusters. We estimate that these clusters have age ratios of age_NGC416/age_L1 ~= 0.73 +- 0.05 and age_L113/age_L1 ~= 0.52 +- 0.09, using an extrapolation of the d_(B-V) method (which uses the color difference between the red hor…
We observed an area of 10 deg^2 of the Large Magellanic Cloud using the Infrared Camera on board AKARI. The observations were carried out using five imaging filters (3, 7, 11, 15, and 24 micron) and a dispersion prism (2 -- 5 micron, $λ/ Δλ$ $\sim$ 20) equipped in the IRC. This paper describes the outline of our survey project and presents some initial results using the imaging data that detected over 5.9x10^5 near-infrared and 6.4x10^4 mid-infrared point sources. The 10 $σ$ detection limits of our survey are about 16.5, 14.0, 12.3, 10.8, and 9.2 in Vega-magnitude at 3, 7, 11, 15, and 24 micro…
We present a study of the old globular clusters (GC) using archival F606W and F814W HST/ACS images of 19 Magellanic-type dwarf Irregular (dIrr) galaxies found in nearby (2 - 8 Mpc) associations of only dwarf galaxies. All dIrrs have absolute magnitudes fainter than or equal to the SMC (Mv = -16.2 mag). We detect 50 GC candidates in 13 dIrrs, of which 37 have (V-I) colors consistent with "blue" (old, metal-poor) GCs (bGC). The luminosity function (LF) of the bGCs in our sample peaks at Mv = -7.41 +/- 0.22 mag, consistent with other galaxy types. The width of the LF is sigma = 1.79 +/- 0.31 whic…
(Abridged) We present the results of photometric measurements from images of the LMC globular clusters NGC 1928, 1939 and Reticulum taken with ACS on HST. F555W and F814W exposures result in high accuracy CMDs for these three clusters. This is the first time that CMDs for NGC 1928 and 1939 have been published. All three clusters possess CMDs with features indicating them to be >10 Gyr old, including main sequence turn-offs at V~23 and well populated HBs. We use the CMDs to obtain metallicity and reddening estimates for each cluster. NGC 1939 is a metal poor cluster, with [Fe/H] = -2.10 +/- 0.1…
We present the result of a systematic search for spectrally hard and soft X-ray binary systems in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). This search has been applied to ROSAT PSPC data (0.1-2.4 keV) collected during 9 pointed observations towards this galaxy covering a time span of 2 years from October 91 till October 93. Selection criteria have been defined in order to confine the sample of candidates. Finally 7 spectrally hard and 4 spectrally soft sources were selected from the list as candidates for binaries in the SMC. The sample is luminosity limited (>3.10**35 erg/s). SMC X-1 has been observ…
We present Washington system C,T_1 CMDs of 13 star clusters and their surrounding fields which lie in the outer parts of the LMC disk. Ages are determined by means of the magnitude difference between the giant branch clump and the turnoff, while metallicities are derived from the location of the giant and subgiant branches as compared to fiducial star clusters. We find that in most cases the stellar population of each star cluster is quite similar to that of the field where it is embedded. Three particular fields present remarkable properties: (i) The so far unique cluster ESO121-SC03 at ~9 Gy…
We present ground-based {\it B} and {\it R}-band color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of unprecedented depth for twelve fields in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). They reach the oldest main-sequence turnoffs and cover a wide range of galactocentric distances up to $\sim4\arcdeg$ from the SMC center, and are located at different position angles. A picture of the stellar content in our SMC fields is presented, through the comparison with theoretical isochrones. Our study confirms the existence of strong population gradients and spatial variation in the SMC stellar content. None of the SMC fields pre…
The detection of magnetic chemically peculiar (CP2) stars in open clusters of extragalactic systems can give observational answers to many unsolved questions. The mean percentage of CP2 stars in the Milky Way is of the order of 5% for the spectral range from early B- to F-type, luminosity class V objects. The origin of the CP2 phenomenon seems to be closely connected to the overall metallicity and global magnetic field environment. The theoretical models are still only tested by observations in the Milky Way. It is therefore essential to provide high quality observations in rather different gl…
We present the results of photometric measurements from images of the LMC cluster ESO 121-SC03 taken with HST/ACS. Our resulting CMD reaches 3 magnitudes below the main-sequence turn-off, representing the deepest observation of this cluster to date. We also present similar photometry from ACS imaging of the accreted Sagittarius dSph cluster Pal. 12, used in this work as a comparison cluster. From analysis of its CMD, we obtain estimates for the metallicity and reddening of ESO 121-SC03: [Fe/H] = -0.97 +/- 0.10 and E(V-I) = 0.04 +/- 0.02, in excellent agreement with previous studies. The observ…
From a survey of the 3400 A region in the earliest O-type spectra, we have found that two of the four O2 giants observed in the LMC have the OIV lines there stronger than the NIV, while the other two have the opposite. A SMC counterpart also has the NIV stronger than OIV. Inspection of the blue spectra of these stars shows that the former pair have weaker N lines in all ionization states (III, IV, V) present as well as lines of CIV lambda 4658, while the latter three have stronger N lines and greater He/H. Space ultraviolet observations of two of the N-strong stars show NV wind profiles substa…
