Physics
Scientific paper
Aug 2000
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2000noao.prop..209s&link_type=abstract
NOAO Proposal ID #2000B-0209
Physics
Scientific paper
Determining the star formation and chemical evolution histories in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) will give us a solid cornerstone on which to build an understanding of galaxy evolution. To do so, we are obtaining high-precision color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) for large samples of stars in numerous fields located throughout the bar and disk of the LMC using a combination of HST and CTIO imaging. The main factor limiting the accuracy of the star-formation histories we derive from our CMDs is the degeneracy of age and metallicity and our poor understanding of the age-metallicity relationship in LMC stellar populations. We propose to conquer this problem by directly measuring the distribution of chemical abundances as a function of radius in the LMC. We will exploit the multiplexing capability of the new HYDRA spectrograph and obtain spectra of approximately 100 red gaint stars in each of three fields in the disk and bar/disk interface of the LMC. Using the strengths of the Ca II infrared triplet lines at 8498, 8542 and 8662 Å, we will derive [Fe/H] with random errors of 0.15 dex for each star. Assuming a flat metallicity distribution (worst case scenario), the chemical abundance distributions we derive will be accurate to ~35% in 0.15 dex bins. We will use these together with our CMDs to greatly improve the determination of the global star formation history and investigate the chemical evolution of the LMC.
Bosler Tammy
Cole Andrew A.
Smecker-Hane Tammy
~Gallagher John S.
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