Hierarchical star formation in the Magellanic Clouds with the VMC survey

Abstract

The VISTA Magellanic Clouds Survey (VMC) is a near-infrared survey of the Magellanic system. The VMC data has been exploited to detect and study statistically correlated young groups of stars - also known as "young stellar structures" - in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC). We showcase the ~ 3000 recently detected young stellar structures in the LMC and their similarity to the fractal interstellar medium. We discuss how their properties indicate their formation mechanisms and that there are no preferred scales of star formation in the LMC.

Keywords: galaxies: Magellanic Clouds; methods: statistical; stars: early-type; stars: formation.

Figure 1. The identified young stellar structures coloured by 1σ to 15σ. After Miller et al. (2022).

Figure 2

(Left) The size distribution of the young stellar structures. In red, the power-law we fit between 10–700 pc. (Right) The surface density distribution of the structures. In red, the lognormal distribution we fit. After Miller et al. (2022).