麦哲伦星云古老恒星形成历史的比较
Comparing the Ancient Star Formation Histories of the Magellanic Clouds
摘要：
我们提出了一个新的HST档案计划的初步结果，旨在严格限制古代（>4 Gyr ago）的SMC和LMC的现场人口的恒星形成历史（SFHS）。我们通过构建基于HST/WFPC 2的SMC中7个空间多样性场和LMC中8个场的颜色-星等图（CMD; M_{F555W} ~ +8）来证明存档数据的质量。基于HST的CMD比任何基于地面的观测都要深2个量级，并且在高表面亮度区域特别优越，例如，大麦哲伦星系棒，其中包含了相当大一部分恒星形成，从地面观测来看是有限的。为了最大限度地减少系统的不确定性，我们推导出SFH的每个字段使用相同的极大似然CMD拟合技术。然后，我们计算每个星系的近似质量加权平均SFH。我们发现这两个星系都缺乏早期恒星形成的主导爆发，这表明早期恒星形成要么受到抑制，要么燃料不足。从10-12 Gyr前，LMC经历了一个增强的恒星质量增长相对于SMC的时期。与以前的一些研究类似，我们发现SMC的SFH在~4.5和9 Gyr前有两个显著的峰值，这可能是由于与LMC的重复接近通道，这意味着相互作用的历史至少持续了9 Gyr。我们几乎没有发现证据表明这两个MC的生命周期SFHS的强周期性行为，这表明与银河系的重复遭遇是不太可能的。从大约3.5 Gyr前开始，两个星系的SFH都显示出增加，这与以前的研究一致，此后，相互跟踪得非常好。（节略）
英文摘要：
We present preliminary results from a new HST archival program aimed at tightly constraining the ancient (>4 Gyr ago) star formation histories (SFHs) of the field populations of the SMC and LMC. We demonstrate the quality of the archival data by constructing HST/WFPC2-based color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs; M_{F555W} ~ +8) for 7 spatially diverse fields in the SMC and 8 fields in the LMC. The HST-based CMDs are >2 magnitudes deeper than any from ground based observations, and are particularly superior in high surface brightness regions, e.g., the LMC bar, which contain a significant fraction of star formation and are crowding limited from ground based observations. To minimize systematic uncertainties, we derive the SFH of each field using an identical maximum likelihood CMD fitting technique. We then compute an approximate mass weighted average SFH for each galaxy. We find that both galaxies lack a dominant burst of early star formation, which suggests either a suppression or an under-fueling of early star formation. From 10-12 Gyr ago, the LMC experienced a period of enhanced stellar mass growth relative to the SMC. Similar to some previous studies, we find two notable peaks in the SFH of the SMC at ~4.5 and 9 Gyr ago, which could be due to repeated close passages with the LMC, implying an interaction history that has persisted for at least 9 Gyr. We find little evidence for strong periodic behavior in the lifetime SFHs of both MCs, suggesting that repeated encounters with the Milky Way are unlikely. Beginning ~3.5 Gyr ago, both galaxies show increases in their SFHs, in agreement with previous studies, and thereafter, track each other remarkably well. (abridged)
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