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Fundamental parameters of the LMC clusters NGC 1836, NGC 1860, NGC 1865, SL 444, LW 224 and SL 548
Complementing our recent Washington photometric studies on intermediateage and young Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) clusters, we now turn ourattention to six previously unstudied star clusters in the transitionrange 200-700 Myr. We study NGC 1836, 1860 and 1865, which are projectedon the LMC bar; SL 444, also located in the central disc but outside thebar; and LW 224 and SL 548, both located in the outer disc. We deriveages and metallicities from extracted T1 versusC-T1 colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), using theoreticalisochrones recently computed for the Washington photometric system. Forthe metallicity determinations, these CMDs are particularly sensitive.We also estimate ages and metallicities of the surrounding fields of NGC1860 and 1865 by employing the δT1 index defined inGeisler et al. (1997, AJ, 114, 1920) and theoretical isochrones. Byadding the present cluster sample to those of our previous studies, wenow gather 37 LMC clusters with homogeneous parameter determinations,which are employed to probe the chemical enrichment of the LMC and itsspatial distribution. On average, inner disc clusters turned out to benot only younger than the outer ones, but also more metal-rich; somehave solar metal content. Furthermore, inner clusters located to thewest of the LMC centre are younger and more metal-rich than theireastern counterparts. We propose that a bursting formation mechanism,with an important formation event centred at ~2.0 Gyr, provides a betterdescription of the cluster age-metallicity relation than a closed-boxchemical evolution model. In the outer disc, the field star formationseems to have lasted until 2 Gyr ago while it continued in the innerdisc for almost 1 Gyr longer.
| Young star clusters immersed in intermediate-age fields in the Large Magellanic Cloud bar
We present Washington System photometry for 11 star clusters immersed inthe north-west part of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) bar, centred onthe intermediate-age clusters NGC 1865 and SL 244. The fields areheavily populated by the intermediate-age component of the LMC bar. Wesucceeded in disentangling cluster colour-magnitude diagrams from thoseof the fields and in deriving reddening and ages for five clusters - SL218, BRHT4b, and NGC 1839, 1838 and 1863 - with the aid of recentWashington System theoretical isochrones. The resulting cluster agesrange between 50 and 125 Myr. Despite their proximity, NGC 1836 andBRHT4b have very different ages. Thus the possibility of these twoobjects being a binary cluster is very unlikely, although a capturecannot be ruled out a priori. Our results suggest that for eachintermediate-age cluster remaining in the LMC bar region, a number ofrobust young blue star clusters occurs in the same region.
| Testing stellar population models with star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud
We present high signal-to-noise ratio integrated spectra of 24 starclusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), obtained using the FLAIRspectrograph at the UK Schmidt telescope. The spectra have been placedon to the Lick/IDS system in order to test the calibration of SimpleStellar Population (SSP) models. We have compared the SSP-predictedmetallicities of the clusters with those from the literature,predominantly taken from the Ca-triplet spectroscopy of Olszewski et al.(1991). We find that there is good agreement between the metallicitiesin the range -2.10 <=[Fe/H]<= 0. However, the Mg2 index(and to a lesser degree Mg b) systematically predict highermetallicities (up to +0.5 dex higher) than . Among thepossible explanations for this are that the LMC clusters possess[α/Fe] > 0. Metallicities are presented for eleven LMC clusterswhich have no previous measurements. We compare SSP ages for theclusters, derived from the Hβ, Hγ and Hδ Lick/IDSindices, with the available literature data, and find good agreement forthe vast majority. This includes six old globular clusters in oursample, which have ages consistent with their HST colour-magnitudediagram (CMD) ages and/or integrated colours. However, two globularclusters, NGC 1754 and NGC 2005, identified as old (~15 Gyr) on thebasis of HST CMDs, have Hβ line-strengths which lead ages that aretoo low (~8 and ~6 Gyr respectively). These findings are inconsistentwith their CMD-derived values at the 3σ level. Comparison betweenthe horizontal branch morphology and the Balmer line strengths of theseclusters suggests that the presence of blue horizontal branch stars hasincreased their Balmer indices by up to ~1.0 Å. We conclude thatthe Lick/IDS indices, used in conjunction with contemporary SSP models,are able to reproduce the ages and metallicities of the LMC clustersreassuringly well. The required extrapolations of the fitting functionsand stellar libraries in the models to lower ages and low metallicitiesdo not lead to serious systematic errors. However, owing to thesignificant contribution of horizontal branch stars to Balmer indices,SSP model ages derived for metal-poor globular clusters are ambiguouswithout a priori knowledge of horizontal branch morphology.
| A statistical study of binary and multiple clusters in the LMC
Based on the Bica et al. (\cite{bica}) catalogue, we studied the starcluster system of the LMC and provide a new catalogue of all binary andmultiple cluster candidates found. As a selection criterion we used amaximum separation of 1farcm4 corresponding to 20 pc (assuming adistance modulus of 18.5 mag). We performed Monte Carlo simulations andproduced artificial cluster distributions that we compared with the realone in order to check how many of the found cluster pairs and groups canbe expected statistically due to chance superposition on the plane ofthe sky. We found that, depending on the cluster density, between 56%(bar region) and 12% (outer LMC) of the detected pairs can be explainedstatistically. We studied in detail the properties of the multiplecluster candidates. The binary cluster candidates seem to show atendency to form with components of similar size. When possible, westudied the age structure of the cluster groups and found that themultiple clusters are predominantly young with only a few cluster groupsolder than 300 Myr. The spatial distribution of the cluster pairs andgroups coincides with the distribution of clusters in general; however,old groups or groups with large internal age differences are mainlylocated in the densely populated bar region. Thus, they can easily beexplained as chance superpositions. Our findings show that a formationscenario through tidal capture is not only unlikely due to the lowprobability of close encounters of star clusters, and thus the evenlower probability of tidal capture, but the few groups with largeinternal age differences can easily be explained with projectioneffects. We favour a formation scenario as suggested by Fujimoto &Kumai (\cite{fk}) in which the components of a binary cluster formedtogether and thus should be coeval or have small age differencescompatible with cluster formation time scales. Table 6 is only availablein electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr(130.79.128.5) or viahttp://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A/391/547
| The Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. Catalog of Star Clusters from the Large Magellanic Cloud
We present the catalog of star clusters found in the area of about 5.8square degree in the central regions of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Itcontains data for 745 clusters. 126 of them are new objects. For eachcluster equatorial coordinates, radius, approximate number of membersand cross-identification are provided. Photometric data for all clusterspresented in the catalog and Atlas consisting of finding charts andcolor-magnitude diagrams are available electronically from the OGLEInternet archive.
| Spectroscopic analysis of the candidate globular clusters NGC 1928 and 1939 in the Large Magellanic Cloud
The integrated spectral properties in the range 3600-6700 A of thecandidate old clusters NGC 1928 and 1939 in the LMC bar are comparedwith those of old- and intermediate-age reference LMC clusters, theproperties of which are better established. It has been possible toinfer the age of the sample clusters by means of absorption features andthe continuum distribution, in particular in the plane W_M x W_B (whereW_B is the average of Hdelta, Hγ and H beta equivalent widths, andW_M that of Ca II K, G band and Mg i). The results indicate that NGC1928 and 1939 are compatible with old clusters. The metallicity isderived with respect to galactic globular cluster templates: [Fe/H]~-1.2 and -2.0 for NGC 1928 and 1939, respectively. We also discuss thecensus of Population II clusters in the LMC, their spatial distributionand the possibility of a LMC core and a transient morphologicalclassification for interacting late-type disc galaxies.
| A Revised and Extended Catalog of Magellanic System Clusters, Associations, and Emission Nebulae. II. The Large Magellanic Cloud
A survey of extended objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud was carriedout on the ESO/SERC R and J Sky Survey Atlases, checking entries inprevious catalogs and searching for new objects. The census provided6659 objects including star clusters, emission-free associations, andobjects related to emission nebulae. Each of these classes containsthree subclasses with intermediate properties, which are used to infertotal populations. The survey includes cross identifications amongcatalogs, and we present 3246 new objects. We provide accuratepositions, classification, and homogeneous measurements of sizes andposition angles, as well as information on cluster pairs andhierarchical relation for superimposed objects. This unification andenlargement of catalogs is important for future searches of fainter andsmaller new objects. We discuss the angular and size distributions ofthe objects of the different classes. The angular distributions show twooff-centered systems with different inclinations, suggesting that theLMC disk is warped. The present catalog together with its previouscounterpart for the SMC and the inter-Cloud region provide a totalpopulation of 7847 extended objects in the Magellanic System. Theangular distribution of the ensemble reveals important clues on theinteraction between the LMC and SMC.
| A Search for Old Star Clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Abstract image available at:http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1997AJ....114.1920G
| Integrated UBV Photometry of 624 Star Clusters and Associations in the Large Magellanic Cloud
We present a catalog of integrated UBV photometry of 504 star clustersand 120 stellar associations in the LMC, part of them still embedded inemitting gas. We study age groups in terms of equivalent SWB typesderived from the (U-B) X (B-V) diagram. The size of the spatialdistributions increases steadily with age (SWB types), whereas adifference of axial ratio exists between the groups younger than 30 Myrand those older, which implies a nearly face-on orientation for theformer and a tilt of ~45^deg^ for the latter groups. Asymmetries arepresent in the spatial distributions, which, together with thenoncoincidence of the centroids for different age groups, suggest thatthe LMC disk was severely perturbed in the past.
| Old and Intermediate-Age Stellar Populations in the Magellanic Clouds
The Magellanic Clouds have galactocentric distances of 50 and 63kiloparsecs, making it possible to probe the older populations ofclusters and stars in some detail. Although it is clear that bothgalaxies contain an old population, it is not yet certain whether thispopulation is coeval with the date of formation of the oldest globularsin the Milky Way. The kinematics of this old population in the LargeMagellanic Cloud (LMC) are surprising; no component of this oldpopulation is currently measured to be part of a hot halo supported byvelocity dispersion. Spectroscopy of field stars is beginning to showthe existence of a small population of stars with abundances [Fe/H] lessthan -1.4. These stars will help to unravel the star-formation historywhen the next generation of telescopes are commissioned. Asymptoticgiant branch stars, long-period variables, planetary nebulae, andhorizontal-branch clump stars can be used to trace the extent andkinematics of the intermediate-age population. Deep color-magnitudediagrams can be used to derive the relative proportions of stars olderthan 1 Gyr. The age distribution of populous clusters and theage-metallicity relation are used to compare the evolution of the twoMagellanic Clouds to each other. The issue of where the LMC's metalsoriginated is explored, as is the question of what triggers starformation in the Clouds.
| Bar star clusters in the LMC - Formation history from UBV integrated photometry
The sample of star clusters in the LMC Bar region with integrated UBVphotometry was enlarged by approximately a factor four, totaling 129objects. The (B-V) histogram gap between blue and red clustersdisappears with this deeper sample. Age groups in terms of equivalentSWB types were derived and their spatial distribution studied. Clustersyounger than t about 200 Myr are not homogeneously distributed throughthe bar. In particular a strong star forming event at t about 100 Myrwas detected in the eastern part of the Bar, consisting of a compactgrouping of seven coeval clusters around NGC 2058 and NGC 2065. Also, 11close pairs and two trios are analyzed, and the colors indicate thatonly four pairs are clearly not coeval.
| Ellipticities at R(h) of LMC star clusters
The projected ellipticities of 53 populous LMC star clusters have beenderived by means of PDS 1010A scans and a computer interactive method ofreduction implemented on an Apollo 570 workstation. Film copies of apair of J and U plates taken with the 1.2 m UK Schmidt Telescope inAustralia were used. The ellipticities derived here agree with thosefound by previous investigators, when comparisons were possible at thesame radius. Ellipticity variations within individual globular clustersare seen to be a common phenomenon, so the ellipticities e(h) at adistance corresponding to the half-mass radius R(h) from the center wereadopted to represent the cluster's flatness. Using these values for theLMC clusters, it is found that LMC clusters are more elliptical thanthose of the Galaxy. Although the young LMC globular clusters show atendency to be more elliptical than the old ones, there is no strongevidence for a significant difference among them. Finally, e(h) wasfound to increase with the total mass of the clusters, possiblyindicating that high-mass clusters have higher angular momentum, or havemore difficulty in shedding angular momentum, than do low mass clusters,and remain longer in their initial flattened shape.
| A Catalogue of Clusters in The LMC
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