Herbig Ae/Be Stars in the Magellanic Bridge

Abstract

We have found Herbig Ae/Be star candidates in the western region of the Magellanic Bridge. Using the near infrared camera SIRIUS and the 1.4 m telescope IRSF, we surveyed about 3.0 deg x 1.3 deg (24 deg < RA < 36 deg, -75 deg < Dec. < -73.7 deg) in the J, H, and Ks bands. On the basis of colors and magnitudes, about 200 Herbig Ae/Be star candidates are selected. Considering the contaminations by miscellaneous sources such as foreground stars and early-type dwarfs in the Magellanic Bridge, we estimate that about 80 (about 40%) of the candidates are likely to be Herbig Ae/Be stars. We also found one concentration of the candidates at the young star cluster NGC 796, strongly suggesting the existence of pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars in the Magellanic Bridge. This is the first detection of PMS star candidates in the Magellanic Bridge, and if they are genuine PMS stars, this could be direct evidence of recent star formation. However, the estimate of the number of Herbig Ae/Be stars depends on the fraction of classical Be stars, and thus a more precise determination of the Be star fraction or observations to differentiate between the Herbig Ae/Be stars and classical Be stars are required.

arXiv comment22 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ

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• A Luminous Be+White Dwarf Supersoft Source in the Wing of the SMC: MAXI J0158-744
• Origin of structural and kinematical properties of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Extraordinary luminous soft X-ray transient MAXI J0158-744 as an ignition of a nova on a very massive O-Ne white dwarf
• The Magellanic Bridge as a DLA System: Physical Properties of Cold Gas toward PKS0312-770
• Spitzer View of Massive Star Formation in the Tidally Stripped Magellanic Bridge
• The iron abundance of the Magellanic Bridge
• Pre--Main-Sequence stellar populations across Shapley Constellation III. I. Photometric Analysis and Identification