SPITZER VIEW OF YOUNG MASSIVE STARS IN THE LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD H II COMPLEXES. II. N 159
- Department of Astronomy, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904 (United States)
- Department of Astronomy, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)
- Observatoire de Paris, 92195 Meudon (France)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 (United States)
- Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
The H II complex N 159 in the Large Magellanic Cloud is used to study massive star formation in different environments, as it contains three giant molecular clouds (GMCs) that have similar sizes and masses but exhibit different intensities of star formation. We identify candidate massive young stellar objects (YSOs) using infrared photometry, and model their spectral energy distributions to constrain mass and evolutionary state. Good fits are obtained for less evolved Type I, I/II, and II sources. Our analysis suggests that there are massive embedded YSOs in N 159B, a maser source, and several ultracompact H II regions. Massive O-type YSOs are found in GMCs N 159-E and N 159-W, which are associated with ionized gas, i.e., where massive stars formed a few Myr ago. The third GMC, N 159-S, has neither O-type YSOs nor evidence of previous massive star formation. This correlation between current and antecedent formation of massive stars suggests that energy feedback is relevant. We present evidence that N 159-W is forming YSOs spontaneously, while collapse in N 159-E may be triggered. Finally, we compare star formation rates determined from YSO counts with those from integrated H{alpha} and 24 {mu}m luminosities and expected from gas surface densities. Detailed dissection of extragalactic GMCs like the one presented here is key to revealing the physics underlying commonly used star formation scaling laws.
- OSTI ID:
- 21464790
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 721, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/721/2/1206; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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