Fundamental properties of blue star clusters, compact, high surface brightness in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

Integrated spectroscopy in the optical range (3600-6800Å) of a sample of 29 blue compact and high surface brightness Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) star clusters is presented. Cluster reddening values were estimated using the avaible interstellar extinction maps, while cluster ages were derived from template matching and equivalent width (EW) methods. In the latter case, age-metallicity calibrations were used together with diagnostic diagrams involving the sum of Ews of selected spectral lines ( K CaII, G band (CH), MgI, H_β, H_γ and H_δ. The derived cluster ages range from 5 to 800 Myr, a good agreement between the results of the two methods being obtained. The present cluster sample complements previous ones, in an attempt to provide a spectral library with several clusters per age interval.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5377/ce.v1i1.606

Ciencias Espaciales 1(1) 2009