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Star and Cluster Formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Sidney van den Bergh
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Abstract

A great burst of cluster formation increased the rate at which open clusters were formed in the Large Magellanic Cloud 3-5 Gyr ago by at least an order of magnitude. On the other hand the rate of star formation ~ 4 Gyr appears to have increased by a factor of only 2-4. This shows that the rate of cluster formation is not a good tracer of the rate at which stars are formed. Normalized to the same rate of star formation, the Large Cloud is presently forming / 600 times more star clusters than the Local Group dwarf irregular IC 1613. The high rate of cluster formation in merging gas-rich galaxies suggests that strong shocks might favor the formation of clusters.

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Sidney van den Bergh. 1998-09-28. Star and Cluster Formation in the Large Magellanic Cloud. https://doi.org/10.1086/311681

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