Star formation history in the SMC: the case of NGC602

Abstract

Deep HST/ACS photometry of the young cluster NGC 602, located in the remote low density "wing" of the Small Magellanic Cloud, reveals numerous pre-main sequence stars as well as young stars on the main sequence. The resolved stellar content thus provides a basis for studying the star formation history into recent times and constraining several stellar population properties, such as the present day mass function, the initial mass function and the binary fraction. To better characterize the pre-main sequence population, we present a new set of model stellar evolutionary tracks for this evolutionary phase with metallicity appropriate for the Small Magellanic Cloud (Z = 0.004). We use a stellar population synthesis code, which takes into account a full range of stellar evolution phases to derive our best estimate for the star formation history in the region by comparing observed and synthetic color-magnitude diagrams. The derived present day mass function for NGC 602 is consistent with that resulting from the synthetic diagrams. The star formation rate in the region has increased with time on a scale of tens of Myr, reaching $0.3-0.7\times 10^{-3}{M}_{\odot }y{r}^{-1}$ in the last 2.5 Myr, comparable to what is found in Galactic OB associations. Star formation is most complete in the main cluster but continues at moderate levels in the gas-rich periphery of the nebula.

24 pages. Accepted for publication in AJ

References in corpus (10)

• Past and present star formation in the SMC: NGC 346 and its neighborhood
• Recovering the star formation rate in the solar neighborhood
• The Stellar Mass Distribution in the Giant Star Forming Region NGC 346
• The Discovery of a Population of Pre-Main Sequence Stars in N66/NGC346 from Deep HST/ACS Image
• Electron thermal conductivity owing to collisions between degenerate electrons
• NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud. III. Recent Star Formation and Stellar Clustering Properties in the Bright HII Region N 66
• The Initial Mass Function of the Stellar Association NGC 602 in the Small Magellanic Cloud with Hubble Space Telescope ACS Observations
• Clustered Star Formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud. A Spitzer/IRAC View of the Star-Forming Region NGC 602/N 90
• Discovery of the Pre-Main Sequence Population of the Stellar Association LH 95 in the Large Magellanic Cloud with Hubble Space Telescope ACS Observations
• NGC 602 Environment, Kinematics and Origins

Cited by in corpus (38)

• Star Formation Histories, Abundances and Kinematics of Dwarf Galaxies in the Local Group
• The Pisa pre-main sequence tracks and isochrones. A database covering a wide range of Z, Y, mass, and age values
• Clustering of Local Group distances: publication bias or correlated measurements? I. The Large Magellanic Cloud
• New Optical Reddening Maps of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds
• Clustering of Local Group distances: publication bias or correlated measurements? III. The Small Magellanic Cloud
• Testing massive star evolution, star-formation history and feedback at low metallicity : Spectroscopic analysis of OB stars in the SMC Wing
• Photometric determination of the mass accretion rates of pre-main sequence stars. I. Method and application to the SN1987A field
• Mean age gradient and asymmetry in the star formation history of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Photometric determination of the mass accretion rates of pre-main sequence stars. II. NGC346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• The 2019 super-Eddington outburst of RX J0209.6-7427: Detection of pulsations and constraints on the magnetic field strength
• Testing pre-main sequence models: the power of a Bayesian approach
• An Updated SMC and Magellanic Bridge Catalog of Star Clusters, Associations and Related Objects
• Pre-Main sequence Turn-On as a chronometer for young clusters: NGC346 as a benchmark
• Photometric determination of the mass accretion rate of pre-main sequence stars. IV. Recent star formation in NGC 602
• Star Formation History in two fields of the Small Magellanic Cloud Bar
• History and modes of star formation in the most active region of the Small Magellanic Cloud, NGC 346
• Mass distribution and structural parameters of Small Magellanic Cloud star clusters
• The Small Magellanic Cloud Investigation of Dust and Gas Evolution (SMIDGE): The Dust Extinction Curve from Red Clump Stars
• Photometric determination of the mass accretion rates of pre-main sequence stars. V. Recent star formation in the 30 Dor nebula
• The clustered nature of star formation. Pre--main-sequence clusters in the star-forming region NGC 602/N90 in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• A partially stripped massive star in a Be binary at low metallicity: A missing link towards Be X-ray binaries and double neutron star mergers
• A Panchromatic View OF NGC 602: Time-Resolved Star Formation with the Hubble and Spitzer Space Telescopes
• A High-Resolution Multiband Survey of Westerlund 2 With the Hubble Space Telescope. III. The present-day stellar mass function
• The earliest O-type eclipsing binary in the Small Magellanic Cloud, AzV 476: A comprehensive analysis reveals surprisingly low stellar masses
• A multi-wavelength study of SXP 1062, the long period X-ray pulsar associated with a supernova remnant
• Discovery of X-ray emission from young suns in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• A rare early-type star revealed in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Three-Dimensional Structure and Dust Extinction in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• An interesting candidate for isolated massive star formation in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• The young massive star cluster Westerlund 2 observed with MUSE. I. First results on the cluster internal motion from stellar radial velocities
• A High-Resolution Multiband Survey of Westerlund 2 With the Hubble Space Telescope. II. Mass accretion in the Pre-Main Sequence Population
• Low-mass pre--main-sequence stars in the Magellanic Clouds
• The Stellar Archeology of the M33 Disk: Recent Star-Forming History and Constraints on the Timing of an Interaction with M31
• Sequential Star Formation in the Young SMC Region NGC 602: Insights from ALMA
• Pre--Main-Sequence stellar populations across Shapley Constellation III. I. Photometric Analysis and Identification
• Testing massive star evolution, star-formation history, and feedback at low metallicity: Photometric analysis of OB stars in the SMC Wing
• Is the young star cluster NGC 376 dissolving in the field of the SMC?
• Measuring Young Stars in Space and Time -- I. The Photometric Catalog and Extinction Properties of N44