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The VMC survey - XLIII. The spatially resolved star formation history across the Large Magellanic Cloud

Mazzi, Alessandro; Girardi, Léo; Zaggia, Simone; Pastorelli, Giada; Rubele, Stefano; Bressan, Alessandro; Cioni, Maria-Rosa L; Clementini, Gisella; Cusano, Felice; Pedro Rocha, João; Gullieuszik, Marco; Kerber, Leandro; Marigo, Paola; Ripepi, Vincenzo; Bekki, Kenji; Bell, Cameron P M; de Grijs, Richard; Groenewegen, Martin A T; Ivanov, Valentin D; Oliveira, Joana M; Sun, Ning-Chen; Van Loon, Jacco Th

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Authors

Alessandro Mazzi

Léo Girardi

Simone Zaggia

Giada Pastorelli

Stefano Rubele

Alessandro Bressan

Maria-Rosa L Cioni

Gisella Clementini

Felice Cusano

João Pedro Rocha

Marco Gullieuszik

Leandro Kerber

Paola Marigo

Vincenzo Ripepi

Kenji Bekki

Cameron P M Bell

Richard de Grijs

Martin A T Groenewegen

Valentin D Ivanov

Ning-Chen Sun



Abstract

We derive the spatially resolved star formation history (SFH) for a 96 deg2 area across the main body of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), using the near-infrared photometry from the VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC). The data and analyses are characterized by a great degree of homogeneity and a low sensitivity to the interstellar extinction. 756 subregions of size 0.125 deg2 – corresponding to projected sizes of about 296×322pc2 in the LMC – are analysed. The resulting SFH maps, with typical resolution of 0.2–0.3 dex in logarithm of age, reveal main features in the LMC disc at different ages: the patchy star formation at recent ages, the concentration of star formation on three spiral arms and on the Bar up to ages of ~1.6 Gyr, and the wider and smoother distribution of older populations. The period of most intense star formation occurred roughly between 4 and 0.5 Gyr ago, at rates of ~0.3M?yr-1?. We compare young and old star formation rates with the observed numbers of RR Lyrae and Cepheids. We also derive a mean extinction and mean distance for every subregion, and the plane that best describes the spatial distribution of the mean distances. Our results cover an area about 50 per?cent larger than the classical SFH maps derived from optical data. Main differences with respect to those maps are lower star formation rates at young ages, and a main peak of star formation being identified at ages slightly younger than 1 Gyr.

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Aug 20, 2021
Online Publication Date Aug 20, 2021
Publication Date 2021-11
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 508
Issue 1
Pages 245 - 266
Publisher URL https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/508/1/245/6355454

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