scholarly journals Gas-to-Dust Ratios in the Magellanic Clouds

1984 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. 333-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Koornneef

From radio observations it has been known for some time that a relatively large fraction of the total mass of the Magellanic Clouds is in the form of atomic Hydrogen. In contrast, optical photometry shows that both galaxies suffer rather little obscuration by dust, except in regions where the stellar population indicates recent star formation. However, the possibilities of discussing gas-to-dust ratios have been limited by the poor spatial resolution of the 21 cm HI-observations and uncertainties with respect to the relative location of the various components (gas, dust and stars).

1998 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-122
Author(s):  
Claude Carignan

Recent studies (Puche & Westpfahl 1994, Young & Lo 1996) have shown that the distribution of HI in some extreme low luminosity dwarf irregular galaxies (e.g. M81dwA, Holmberg I, Leo A) tends to have a ring-like (or shell-like) distribution which suggests that a single burst of star formation could expell most of the remaining ISM (or at least a large fraction of it) from the system. In view of this, Puche & Westpfahl (1994) suggested that in dwarf spheroidal galaxies, the HI should be found at large radii since no young stellar population is observed in most of them.


1999 ◽  
Vol 192 ◽  
pp. 72-78
Author(s):  
Jason Harris ◽  
Dennis Zaritsky ◽  
Eva K. Grebel ◽  
Ian Thompson

We are developing an algorithm to determine the star formation history (SFH) of a mixed stellar population. We will apply the algorithm to hundreds of regions in our Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey data and reconstruct the spatially resolved star formation history of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). In this paper, we demonstrate the algorithm on a typical region in the LMC, focussing on the obstacles and challenges facing us in attempting to reliably extract the SFH from photometric data.


1999 ◽  
Vol 190 ◽  
pp. 347-348
Author(s):  
Jason Harris ◽  
Dennis Zaritsky ◽  
Eva K. Grebel ◽  
Ian Thompson

We present a method to determine the star formation history (SFH) of a mixed stellar population, based on an iterative maximum Likelihood comparison of stellar photometry to model color-magnitude diagrams. We demonstrate the algorithm on a subregion of the Large Magellanic Cloud, observed as part of our ongoing Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey. We will eventually perform this analysis on hundreds of regions in both Clouds, resulting in a homogeneous SFH map of these galaxies.


1999 ◽  
Vol 190 ◽  
pp. 287-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bengt E. Westerlund

The stellar populations in the LMC, the SMC, and the Bridge region are discussed and shown to be composed of a number of well separated generations. Asymmetries are seen in the distributions of the intermediate-age and youngest generations. The possibility is considered that all generations, apart from the oldest one, have been produced by bursts of star formation.


1997 ◽  
Vol 483 (2) ◽  
pp. 754-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beverly J. Smith ◽  
Curtis Struck ◽  
Richard W. Pogge

1980 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-92
Author(s):  
P. J. McGregor ◽  
A. R. Hyland

The 30 Doradus region offers an excellent opportunity to study cluster formation processes and recent star formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud.


2020 ◽  
Vol 500 (4) ◽  
pp. 4937-4957 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Martin ◽  
R A Jackson ◽  
S Kaviraj ◽  
H Choi ◽  
J E G Devriendt ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Dwarf galaxies (M⋆ < 109 M⊙) are key drivers of mass assembly in high-mass galaxies, but relatively little is understood about the assembly of dwarf galaxies themselves. Using the NewHorizon cosmological simulation (∼40 pc spatial resolution), we investigate how mergers and fly-bys drive the mass assembly and structural evolution of around 1000 field and group dwarfs up to z = 0.5. We find that, while dwarf galaxies often exhibit disturbed morphologies (5 and 20 per cent are disturbed at z = 1 and z = 3 respectively), only a small proportion of the morphological disturbances seen in dwarf galaxies are driven by mergers at any redshift (for 109 M⊙, mergers drive under 20 per cent morphological disturbances). They are instead primarily the result of interactions that do not end in a merger (e.g. fly-bys). Given the large fraction of apparently morphologically disturbed dwarf galaxies which are not, in fact, merging, this finding is particularly important to future studies identifying dwarf mergers and post-mergers morphologically at intermediate and high redshifts. Dwarfs typically undergo one major and one minor merger between z = 5 and z = 0.5, accounting for 10 per cent of their total stellar mass. Mergers can also drive moderate star formation enhancements at lower redshifts (3 or 4 times at z = 1), but this accounts for only a few per cent of stellar mass in the dwarf regime given their infrequency. Non-merger interactions drive significantly smaller star formation enhancements (around two times), but their preponderance relative to mergers means they account for around 10 per cent of stellar mass formed in the dwarf regime.


1991 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 15-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. E. Westerlund

A vast amount of observational data concerning the structure and kinematics of the Magellanic Clouds is now available. Many basic quantities (e.g. distances and geometry) are, however, not yet sufficiently well determined. Interactions between the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and our Galaxy have dominated the evolution of the Clouds, causing bursts of star formation which, together with stochastic self-propagating star formation, produced the observed structures. In the youngest generation in the LMC it is seen as an intricate pattern imitating a fragmented spiral structure. In the SMC much of the fragmentation is along the line of sight complicating the reconstruction of its history. The violent events in the past are also recognizable in complex velocity patterns which make the analysis of the kinematics of the Clouds difficult.


2018 ◽  
Vol 618 ◽  
pp. A78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Misha Haywood ◽  
Paola Di Matteo ◽  
Matthew Lehnert ◽  
Owain Snaith ◽  
Francesca Fragkoudi ◽  
...  

We show that the bulge and the disk of the Milky Way (MW) at R ≲ 7 kpc are well described by a unique chemical evolution and a two-phase star formation history (SFH). We argue that the populations within this inner disk, not the entire disk, are the same, and that the outer Lindblad resonance (OLR) of the bar plays a key role in explaining this uniformity. In our model of a two-phase SFH, the metallicity, [α/Fe] and [α/H] distributions, and age-metallicity relation are all compatible with the observations of both the inner disk and bulge. The dip at [Fe/H] ∼ 0 dex seen in the metallicity distributions of the bulge and inner disk reflects the quenching episode in the SFH of the inner MW at age ∼8 Gyr, and the common evolution of the bulge and inner disk stars. Our results for the inner region of the MW, R ≲ 7 kpc, are consistent with a rapid build-up of a large fraction of its total baryonic mass within a few billion years. We show that at z ≤ 1.5, when the MW was starting to quench, transitioning between the end of the α-enhanced thick disk formation to the start of the thin disk, and yet was still gas rich, the gas accretion rate could not have been significant. The [α/Fe] abundance ratio before and after this quenching phase would be different, which is not observed. The decrease in the accretion rate and gas fraction at z ≤ 2 was necessary to stabilize the disk allowing the transition from thick to thin disks, and for beginning the secular phase of the MW’s evolution. This possibly permitted a stellar bar to develop which we hypothesize is responsible for quenching the star formation. The present analysis suggests that MW history, and in particular at the transition from the thick to the thin disk – the epoch of the quenching – must have been driven by a decrease of the star formation efficiency. We argue that the decline in the intensity of gas accretion, the formation of the bar, and the quenching of the star formation rate (SFR) at the same epoch may be causally connected thus explaining their temporal coincidence. Assuming that about 20% of the gas reservoir in which metals are diluted is molecular, we show that our model is well positioned on the Schmidt-Kennicutt relation at all times.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S262) ◽  
pp. 315-316
Author(s):  
Ana L. Chies-Santos ◽  
Søren S. Larsen

Globular cluster (GC) systems are powerful probes to study the evolutionary histories of galaxies, being tracers of major star fomation episodes (Brodie & Strader 2006). They are found around all major galaxies and are easy to see far beyond the local group. Age dating GCs therefore helps pinpoint epochs of major star forming events. Spectroscopic age dating though (Strader et al. 2005) is extremely time consuming and can only access the few brightest clusters. An alternative is to combine near-infrared (NIR) and optical photometry, and therefore have a better chance in lifting the age metallicity degeneracy than with optical colours alone. This approach relies in testing GC colours against simple stellar population (SSP) models. The first studies following this technique showed the possible existence of a high percentage of intermediate age (2-3 Gyrs) GCs in early-type galaxies known to contain old stellar populations from integrated light studies. Two strong cases can be listed: NGC 4365 (Puzia et al. 2002, Larsen et al. 2005) and NGC 5846 (Hempel et al. 2003). In the present study we combine NIR deep photometry obtained with the WHT/LIRIS instrument and archival HST/ACS optical images to determine g(F475W), z(F840LP) and K(2.2m) magnitudes and colours of GCs in 14 early-type galaxies.


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