The synchronized dance of the magellanic clouds' star formation history

We use the SMASH survey to obtain unprecedented deep photometry reaching down to the oldest main-sequence turn-offs in the colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and quantitatively derive its star formation history (SFH) using CMD fitting techniques. We identify five di...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bernard, E.J (Author), Besla, G. (Author), Cassisi, S. (Author), Choi, Y. (Author), Cioni, M.-R.L (Author), De Boer, T.J.L (Author), Dorta, A. (Author), Gallart, C. (Author), Massana, P. (Author), Monachesi, A. (Author), Monelli, M. (Author), Nidever, D.L (Author), Noël, N.E.D (Author), Olsen, K.A.G (Author), Ruiz-Lara, T. (Author), Sakowska, J.D (Author), Stringfellow, G.S (Author), Van Der Marel, R.P (Author), Walker, A.R (Author), Zaritsky, D. (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:View Fulltext in Publisher
LEADER 02682nam a2200421Ia 4500
001 10.1093-mnrasl-slac030
008 220510s2022 CNT 000 0 und d
020 |a 17453925 (ISSN) 
245 1 0 |a The synchronized dance of the magellanic clouds' star formation history 
260 0 |b Oxford University Press  |c 2022 
856 |z View Fulltext in Publisher  |u https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slac030 
520 3 |a We use the SMASH survey to obtain unprecedented deep photometry reaching down to the oldest main-sequence turn-offs in the colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and quantitatively derive its star formation history (SFH) using CMD fitting techniques. We identify five distinctive peaks of star formation in the last 3.5 Gyr, at ∼3, ∼2, ∼1.1, ∼0.45 Gyr ago, and one presently. We compare these to the SFH of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), finding unequivocal synchronicity, with both galaxies displaying similar periods of enhanced star formation over the past ∼3.5 Gyr. The parallelism between their SFHs indicates that tidal interactions between the MCs have recurrently played an important role in their evolution for at least the last ∼3.5 Gyr, tidally truncating the SMC and shaping the LMC's spiral arm. We show, for the first time, an SMC-LMC correlated SFH at recent times in which enhancements of star formation are localized in the northern spiral arm of the LMC, and globally across the SMC. These novel findings should be used to constrain not only the orbital history of the MCs but also how star formation should be treated in simulations. © 2022 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. 
650 0 4 |a evolution 
650 0 4 |a galaxies: interactions 
650 0 4 |a galaxies: photometry 
650 0 4 |a galaxies: star formation 
650 0 4 |a Magellanic Clouds 
700 1 |a Bernard, E.J.  |e author 
700 1 |a Besla, G.  |e author 
700 1 |a Cassisi, S.  |e author 
700 1 |a Choi, Y.  |e author 
700 1 |a Cioni, M.-R.L.  |e author 
700 1 |a De Boer, T.J.L.  |e author 
700 1 |a Dorta, A.  |e author 
700 1 |a Gallart, C.  |e author 
700 1 |a Massana, P.  |e author 
700 1 |a Monachesi, A.  |e author 
700 1 |a Monelli, M.  |e author 
700 1 |a Nidever, D.L.  |e author 
700 1 |a Noël, N.E.D.  |e author 
700 1 |a Olsen, K.A.G.  |e author 
700 1 |a Ruiz-Lara, T.  |e author 
700 1 |a Sakowska, J.D.  |e author 
700 1 |a Stringfellow, G.S.  |e author 
700 1 |a Van Der Marel, R.P.  |e author 
700 1 |a Walker, A.R.  |e author 
700 1 |a Zaritsky, D.  |e author 
773 |t Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters