Resolving the compact HII regions in N160A with HST

Abstract

Using high-resolution imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope, we study the Large Magellanic Cloud HII region N160A and uncover several striking features of this complex massive star-forming site. The two compact high excitation HII blobs (HEBs) A1 and A2 are for the first time resolved and their stellar content and morphology is revealed. A1, being of higher excitation, is powered by a single massive star whose strong wind has created a surrounding bubble. A2 harbors several exciting stars enshrouded inside large quantities of dust. The whole N160A nebula is energized by three star clusters for which we obtain photometry and study their color-magnitude diagram. The HII region is particularly dusty, with extinction values reaching an A_v~2.5 mag in the visible, and it is separated from the molecular cloud by an outstanding ionization front. A previously detected infrared young stellar object is also accurately located with respect to the HII region.

11 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. A version of the paper with higher quality images is available at http://wwwusr.obspm.fr/~heydari/projects/N160

References in corpus (4)

• On the Formation of Massive Stars
• Star Cluster Evolution, Dynamical Age Estimation and the Kinematical Signature of Star Formation
• Observations of ground-state OH in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• HST study of the LMC compact star forming region N83B

Cited by in corpus (14)

• A general catalogue of extended objects in the Magellanic System
• Massive Young Stellar Objects in the Large Magellanic Cloud: water masers and ESO-VLT 3-4 micron spectroscopy
• The thermal dust emission in the N158-N159-N160 (LMC) star forming complex mapped by Spitzer, Herschel and LABOCA
• Velocity profiles of [CII], [CI], CO, and [OI] and physical conditions in four star-forming regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Spectroscopic study of the N159/N160 complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Optical and mid-infrared neon abundance determinations in star-forming regions
• Stellar populations associated with the LMC Papillon Nebula
• Discovery of a new Wolf-Rayet star and a candidate star cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud with Spitzer
• The stellar environment of SMC N81
• Low-excitation blobs in the Magellanic Clouds
• The LMC HII region N 214C and its peculiar nebular blob
• A mid-infrared study of HII regions in the Magellanic Clouds: N88A and N160A
• Disentangling emission from star-forming regions in the Magellanic Clouds: Linking [OIII]88 micron and 24 micron
• Massive Star Formation in the LMC. I. N159 and N160 Complexes