Spectroscopic Study of the N159/N160 Complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud
Abstract
We present a spectroscopic study of the N159/N160 massive star-forming region south of 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud, classifying a total of 189 stars in the field of the complex. Most of them belong to O and early B spectral classes; we have also found some uncommon and very interesting spectra, including members of the Onfp class, a Be P Cygni star, and some possible multiple systems. Using spectral types as broad indicators of evolutionary stages, we considered the evolutionary status of the region as a whole. We infer that massive stars at different evolutionary stages are present throughout the region, favoring the idea of a common time for the origin of recent star formation in the N159/N160 complex as a whole, while sequential star formation at different rates is probably present in several subregions.
- Publication:
-
The Astronomical Journal
- Pub Date:
- August 2009
- DOI:
- 10.1088/0004-6256/138/2/510
- arXiv:
- arXiv:0907.1033
- Bibcode:
- 2009AJ....138..510F
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: starburst;
- H II regions;
- ISM: individual:: N159/N160;
- Magellanic Clouds;
- stars: early type;
- Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics;
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 36 pages, 24 figures (127 spectra mostly OB stars, 4 field images). Published in The Astronomical Journal