The VISCACHA survey - VII. Assembly history of the Magellanic Bridge and SMC Wing from star clusters
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Archivos
Fecha
2023-09-01
Profesor/a Guía
Facultad/escuela
Idioma
en
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
Oxford University Press
Nombre de Curso
Licencia CC
Licencia CC
Resumen
The formation scenario of the Magellanic Bridge during an encounter between the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds ∼200 Myr ago, as proposed by N-body models, would be imprinted in the chemical enrichment and kinematics of its stars and sites of ongoing star formation along its extension. We present an analysis of 33 Bridge star clusters using photometry obtained with the SOAR 4-m telescope equipped with adaptive optics for the VISCACHA survey. We performed a membership selection and derived self-consistent ages, metallicities, distances, and reddening values via statistical isochrone fitting, as well as tidal radii and integrated masses from structure analysis. Two groups are clearly detected: 13 well-studied clusters older than the Bridge, with 0.5-6.8 Gyr and dex, probably formed in situ. The old clusters follow the overall age and metallicity gradients of the SMC, whereas the younger ones are uniformly distributed along the Bridge. The main results are as follows: (i) we derive ages and metallicities for the first time for 9 and 18 clusters, respectively; (ii) we detect two metallicity dips in the age-metallicity relation of the Bridge at ∼200 Myr and 1.5 Gyr ago for the first time, possibly chemical signatures of the formation of the Bridge and Magellanic Stream; (iii) we estimate a minimum stellar mass for the Bridge of 3-5 × 105 M⊙; (iv) we confirm that all the young Bridge clusters at RA and 15 clusters with < Myr and -0.5 are metal-rich with dex. © 2023 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society.
Notas
INDEXACIÓN: SCOPUS.
Palabras clave
galaxies: evolution, galaxies: star clusters: general, Magellanic Clouds
Citación
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 524, Issue 2, Pages 2244 - 2261, 1 September 2023
DOI
10.1093/mnras/stad1827