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We used data from the near-infrared Visible and Infrared Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) survey of the Magellanic Cloud system (VMC) to measure proper motions (PMs) of stars within the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The data analysed in this study comprise 26 VMC tiles, covering a total contiguous area on the sky of ∼40 deg2. Using multi-epoch observations in the Ks band over time baselines between 13 and 38 months, we calculated absolute PMs with respect to ∼130 000 background galaxies. We selected a sample of ∼2160 000 likely SMC member stars to model the centre-of-mass motion of the galaxy. The results found for three different choices of the SMC centre are in good agreement with recent space-based measurements. Using the systemic motion of the SMC, we constructed spatially resolved residual PM maps and analysed for the first time the internal kinematics of the intermediate-age/old and young stellar populations separately. We found outward motions that point either towards a stretching of the galaxy or stripping of its outer regions. Stellar motions towards the North might be related to the 'Counter Bridge' behind the SMC. The young populations show larger PMs in the region of the SMC Wing, towards the young Magellanic Bridge. In the older populations, we further detected a coordinated motion of stars away from the SMC in the direction of the Old Bridge as well as a stream towards the SMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a map of the total intrinsic reddening across ≃34 deg2 of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) derived using optical (ugriz) and near-infrared (IR; YJK s) spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of background galaxies. The reddening map is created using a subsample of 29 274 galaxies with low levels of intrinsic reddening based on the lephare χ2 minimization SED-fitting routine. We find statistically significant enhanced levels of reddening associated with the main body of the SMC compared with regions in the outskirts [Δ E (B − V) ≃ 0.3 mag]. A comparison with literature reddening maps of the SMC shows that, after correcting for differences in the volume of the SMC sampled, there is good agreement between our results and maps created using young stars. In contrast, we find significant discrepancies between our results and maps created using old stars or based on longer wavelength far-IR dust emission that could stem from biased samples in the former and uncertainties in the far-IR emissivity and the optical properties of the dust grains in the latter. This study represents one of the first large-scale categorizations of extragalactic sources behind the SMC and as such we provide the lephare outputs for our full sample of ∼500 000 sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable models of the thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) phase are of critical importance across astrophysics, including our interpretation of the spectral energy distribution of galaxies, cosmic dust production, and enrichment of the interstellar medium. With the aim of improving sets of stellar isochrones that include a detailed description of the TP-AGB phase, we extend our recent calibration of the AGB population in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) to the more metal-rich Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We model the LMC stellar populations with the trilegal code, using the spatially resolved star formation history derived from the VISTA survey. We characterize the efficiency of the third dredge-up by matching the star counts and the K s-band luminosity functions of the AGB stars identified in the LMC. In line with previous findings, we confirm that, compared to the SMC, the third dredge-up in AGB stars of the LMC is somewhat less efficient, as a consequence of the higher metallicity. The predicted range of initial mass of C-rich stars is between M i ≈ 1.7 and 3 M⊙ at Z i = 0.008. We show how the inclusion of new opacity data in the carbon star spectra will improve the performance of our models. We discuss the predicted lifetimes, integrated luminosities, and mass-loss rate distributions of the calibrated models. The results of our calibration are included in updated stellar isochrones publicly available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have derived high-spatial-resolution metallicity maps covering ∼42 deg2 across the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) in an attempt to understand its metallicity distribution and gradients up to a radius of ∼4○. Using the near-infrared VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds, our data cover a thrice larger area compared with previous studies. We identify red giant branch (RGB) stars in spatially distinct Y , (Y − K s) colour–magnitude diagrams. In any of our selected subregions, the RGB slope is used as an indicator of the average metallicity, based on calibration to metallicity using spectroscopic data. The metallicity distribution across the SMC is unimodal and can be fitted by a Gaussian distribution with a peak at [Fe/H] = −0.97 dex (σ [Fe/H] = 0.05 dex). We find evidence of a shallow gradient in metallicity (−0.031 ± 0.005 dex deg−1) from the Galactic Centre to radii of 2○–2 |${_{.}^{\circ}}$| 5, followed by a flat metallicity trend from ∼3 |${_{.}^{\circ}}$| 5 to 4○. We find that the SMC's metallicity gradient is radially asymmetric. It is flatter towards the east than to the west, hinting at mixing and/or distortion of the spatial metallicity distribution (within the inner 3○), presumably caused by tidal interactions between the Magellanic Clouds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of young stellar objects (YSOs) in the Galaxy have found that a significant fraction exhibits photometric variability. However, no systematic investigation has been conducted on the variability of extragalactic YSOs. Here we present the first variability study of massive YSOs in an |$\sim 1.5\, \mathrm{deg^2}$| region of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The aim is to investigate whether the different environmental conditions in the metal-poor LMC (⁠|$\sim 0.4\!-\!0.5\, \mathrm{Z_{\odot }}$|⁠) have an impact on the variability characteristics. Multi-epoch near-infrared (NIR) photometry was obtained from the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC) and our own monitoring campaign using the VISTA telescope. By applying a reduced χ2-analysis, stellar variability was identified. We found 3062 candidate variable stars from a population of 362 425 stars detected. Based on several Spitzer studies, we compiled a sample of high-reliability massive YSOs: a total of 173 massive YSOs have NIR counterparts (down to |$K_s\sim 18.5\,$| mag) in the VMC catalogue, of which 39 display significant (>3σ) variability. They have been classified as eruptive, fader, dipper, short-term variable, and long-period variable YSOs based mostly on the appearance of their Ks -band light curves. The majority of YSOs are aperiodic; only five YSOs exhibit periodic light curves. The observed amplitudes are comparable or smaller than those for Galactic YSOs (only two Magellanic YSOs exhibit |$\Delta K_s\gt 1\,$| mag), not what would have been expected from the typically larger mass accretion rates observed in the Magellanic Clouds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Magellanic Clouds are nearby dwarf irregular galaxies whose morphologies show different properties when traced by different stellar populations, making them an important laboratory for studying galaxy morphologies. We study the morphology of the Magellanic Clouds using data from the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy survey of the Magellanic Clouds system. We used about 10 and 2.5 million sources across an area of ∼105 and ∼42 deg2 towards the Large and Small Magellanic Cloud (LMC and SMC), respectively. We estimated median ages of stellar populations occupying different regions of the near-infrared (J − K s, K s) colour–magnitude diagram. Morphological maps were produced and detailed features in the central regions were characterized for the first time with bins corresponding to a spatial resolution of 0.13 kpc (LMC) and 0.16 kpc (SMC). In the LMC, we find that main-sequence stars show coherent structures that grow with age and trace the multiple spiral arms of the galaxy, star-forming regions become dimmer as we progress in age, while supergiant stars are centrally concentrated. Intermediate-age stars, despite tracing a regular and symmetrical morphology, show central clumps and hints of spiral arms. In the SMC, young main-sequence stars depict a broken bar. Intermediate-age populations show signatures of elongation towards the Magellanic Bridge that can be attributed to the LMC–SMC interaction ∼200 Myr ago. They also show irregular central features suggesting that the inner SMC has also been influenced by tidal interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a method to map the total intrinsic reddening of a foreground extinguishing medium via the analysis of spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of background galaxies. In this pilot study, we implement this technique in two distinct regions of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) – the bar and the southern outskirts – using a combination of optical and near-infrared ugrizYJK s broad-band imaging. We adopt the lephare χ2-minimization SED-fitting routine and various samples of galaxies and/or quasi-stellar objects to investigate the intrinsic reddening. We find that only when we construct reddening maps using objects classified as galaxies with low levels of intrinsic reddening (i.e. ellipticals/lenticulars and early-type spirals), the resultant maps are consistent with previous literature determinations, i.e. the intrinsic reddening of the SMC bar is higher than that in the outer environs. We employ two sets of galaxy templates – one theoretical and one empirical – to test for template dependences in the resulting reddening maps and find that the theoretical templates imply systematically higher reddening values by up to 0.20 mag in E (B − V). A comparison with previous reddening maps, based on the stellar components of the SMC, typically shows reasonable agreement. There is, however, significant variation amongst the literature reddening maps as to the level of intrinsic reddening associated with the bar. Thus, it is difficult to unambiguously state that instances of significant discrepancies are the result of appreciable levels of dust not accounted for in some literature reddening maps or whether they reflect issues with our adopted methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thermally pulsing asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) experienced by low- and intermediate-mass stars is one of the most uncertain phases of stellar evolution and the models need to be calibrated with the aid of observations. To this purpose, we couple high-quality observations of resolved stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) with detailed stellar population synthesis simulations computed with the trilegal code. The strength of our approach relies on the detailed spatially resolved star formation history of the SMC, derived from the deep near-infrared photometry of the VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds, as well as on the capability to quickly and accurately explore a wide variety of parameters and effects with the colibri code for the TP-AGB evolution. Adopting a well-characterized set of observations – star counts and luminosity functions – we set up a calibration cycle along which we iteratively change a few key parameters of the TP-AGB models until we eventually reach a good fit to the observations. Our work leads to identify two best-fitting models that mainly differ in the efficiencies of the third dredge-up and mass-loss in TP-AGB stars with initial masses larger than about 3 M⊙. On the basis of these calibrated models, we provide a full characterization of the TP-AGB stellar population in the SMC in terms of stellar parameters (initial masses, C/O ratios, carbon excess, mass-loss rates). Extensive tables of isochrones including these improved models are publicly available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the luminosity function of intermediate-age red clump stars using deep, near-infrared photometric data covering ~20 deg² located throughout the central part of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), comprising the main body and the galaxy's eastern wing, based on observations obtained with the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC). We identified regions that show a foreground population (~11.8 ± 2.0 kpc in front of the main body) in the form of a distance bimodality in the red clump distribution. The most likely explanation for the origin of this feature is tidal stripping from the SMC rather than the extended stellar haloes of the Magellanic Clouds and/or tidally stripped stars from the Large Magellanic Cloud. The homogeneous and continuous VMC data trace this feature in the direction of the Magellanic Bridge and, particularly, identify (for the first time) the inner region (~2-2.5 kpc from the centre) from where the signatures of interactions start becoming evident. This result provides observational evidence of the formation of the Magellanic Bridge from tidally stripped material from the SMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the first search for new star clusters performed using the VISTA near-infrared YJKs Magellanic Clouds survey (VMC) data sets. We chose a pilot field of ∼0.4 deg2 located in the South-west of the Small Magelllanic Cloud bar, where the star field is among the densest and highest reddened region in the galaxy. In order to devise an appropriate automatic procedure we made use of dimensions and stellar densities observed in the VMC data sets of the known clusters in this area. We executed different kernel density estimations over a sample of more than 358 000 stars with magnitudes measured in the three YJKs filters. We analysed the new cluster candidates whose colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), cleaned from field star contamination, were used to assess the clusters' reality and estimate reddenings and ages of the genuine systems. As a result 38 objects (≈ a 55 per cent increase in the known star clusters located in the surveyed field) of 0.15-0.40 arcmin (2.6-7.0 pc) in radius resulted to have near-infrared CMD features which resemble those of star clusters of young to moderate intermediate age (log(t yr-1) ∼7.5-9.0). Most of the new star cluster candidates are hardly recognizable in optical images without the help of a sound star field decontaminated CMD analysis. For highly reddened star cluster candidates (E(B - V) ≥ 0.6 mag) the VMC data sets were necessary in order to recognize them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results based on YJKs photometry of star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), distributed throughout the central part of the galaxy's bar and the 30 Doradus region. We analysed the field-star-decontaminated colour-magnitude diagrams of 313 clusters to estimate their reddening values and ages. The clusters are affected by a mean reddening of E(B - V) ∈ [0.2, 0.3] mag, where the average internal LMC reddening amounts to ~0.1-0.2 mag. The region covering 30 Doradus includes clusters with reddening values in excess of E(B - V) = 0.4 mag. Our cluster sample spans the age range 7.0 = log?(t yr-1) < 9.0, represents an increase of 30 per cent in terms of the number of clusters with robust age estimates and comprises a statistically complete sample in the LMC regions of interest here. The resulting cluster frequencies suggest that the outermost regions of the LMC bar first experienced enhanced cluster formation - log (t yr-1) ∈ [8.5, 9.0] - before the activity proceeded, although in a patchy manner, to the innermost regions, for log (t yr-1) < 7.7. Cluster frequencies in the 30 Doradus region show that the area is dominated by very recent cluster formation. The derived star formation frequencies suggest that the cluster and field-star populations do not seem to have fully evolved as fully coupled systems during the last ~100 Myr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present results based on YJKs photometry of star clusters located in the outermost, eastern region of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We analysed a total of 51 catalogued clusters whose colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs), having been cleaned from field-star contamination, were used to assess the clusters' reality and estimate ages of the genuine systems. Based on CMD analysis, 15 catalogued clusters were found to be possible non-genuine aggregates. We investigated the properties of 80 per cent of the catalogued clusters in this part of the SMC by enlarging our sample with previously obtained cluster ages, adopting a homogeneous scale for all. Their spatial distribution suggests that the oldest clusters, log(t yr-1) ⩾ 9.6, are in general located at greater distances to the galaxy's centre than their younger counterparts - 9.0 ⩽ log(t yr-1) ⩽ 9.4 - while two excesses of clusters are seen at log(t yr-1) ~ 9.2 and log(t yr-1) ~ 9.7. We found a trail of younger clusters which follow the wing/bridge components. This long spatial sequence does not only harbour very young clusters, log(t yr-1) ~ 7.3, but it also hosts some of intermediate ages, log(t yr-1) ~ 9.1. The derived cluster and field-star formation frequencies as a function of age are different. The most surprising feature is an observed excess of clusters with ages of log(t yr-1) < 9.0, which could have been induced by interactions with the LMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyse deep images from the VISTA survey of the Magellanic Clouds in the YJKs filters, covering 14 deg² (10 tiles), split into 120 subregions, and comprising the main body and Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We apply a colour--magnitude diagram reconstruction method that returns their best-fitting star formation rate SFR(t), age--metallicity relation (AMR), distance and mean reddening, together with 68 per cent confidence intervals. The distance data can be approximated by a plane tilted in the East-West direction with a mean inclination of 39°, although deviations of up to ±3 kpc suggest a distorted and warped disc. After assigning to every observed star a probability of belonging to a given age--metallicity interval, we build high-resolution population maps. These dramatically reveal the flocculent nature of the young star-forming regions and the nearly smooth features traced by older stellar generations. They document the formation of the SMC Wing at ages <0.2 Gyr and the peak of star formation in the SMC Bar at ~40 Myr. We clearly detect periods of enhanced star formation at 1.5 and 5 Gyr. The former is possibly related to a new feature found in the AMR, which suggests ingestion of metal-poor gas at ages slightly larger than 1 Gyr. The latter constitutes a major period of stellar mass formation. We confirm that the SFR(t) was moderately low at even older ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on new observations with the Wide Field Camera 3 onboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we report the discovery of an extended main-sequence turn-off (eMSTO) in the intermediate-age star cluster NGC 411. This is the second case of an eMSTO being identified in a star cluster belonging to the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), after NGC 419. Despite that the present masses of these two SMC clusters differ by a factor of ∼4, the comparison between their colour–magnitude diagrams (CMDs) shows striking similarities, especially regarding the shape of their eMSTOs. The loci of main CMD features are so similar that they can be well described, in a first approximation, by the same mean metallicity, distance and extinction. NGC 411, however, presents merely a trace of secondary red clump as opposed to its prominent manifestation in NGC 419. This could be either due to the small number statistics in NGC 411 or due to the star formation in NGC 419 having continued for ∼60 Myr longer than in NGC 411. Under the assumption that the eMSTOs are caused by different generations of stars at increasing age, both clusters are nearly coeval in their first episodes of star formation. The initial period of star formation, however, is slightly more marked in NGC 419 than in NGC 411. We discuss these findings in the context of possible scenarios for the origin of eMSTOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

NGC 1846 and NGC 1783 are two massive star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud, hosting both an extended main-sequence turn-off and a dual clump of red giants. They present similar masses but differ mainly in angular size. Starting from their high-quality ACS data in the F435W, F555W and F814W filters, and updated sets of stellar evolutionary tracks, we derive their star formation rates as a function of age, SFR(t), by means of the classical method of colour-magnitude diagram reconstruction which is usually applied to nearby galaxies. The method confirms the extended periods of star formation derived from previous analysis of the same data. When the analysis is performed for a finer resolution in age, we find clear evidence for a ~50-Myr long hiatus between the oldest peak in the SFR(t), and a second prolonged period of star formation, in both clusters. For the more compact cluster NGC 1846, there seems to be no significant difference between the SFR(t) in the cluster centre and in an annulus with radii between 20 and 60 arcsec (from 4.8 to 15.4 pc). The same does not occur in the more extended NGC 1783 cluster, where the outer ring (between 33 and 107 arcsec, from 8.0 to 25.9 pc) is found to be slightly younger than the centre. We also explore the best-fitting slope of the present-day mass function and binary fraction for the different cluster regions, finding hints of a varying mass function between centre and outer ring in NGC 1783. These findings are discussed within the present scenarios for the formation of clusters with multiple turn-offs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT We present the updated version of the code used to compute stellar evolutionary tracks in Padova. It is the result of a thorough revision of the major input physics, together with the inclusion of the pre-main sequence phase, not present in our previous releases of stellar models. Another innovative aspect is the possibility of promptly generating accurate opacity tables fully consistent with any selected initial chemical composition, by coupling the Opacity Project At Livermore (OPAL) data at high temperatures to the molecular opacities computed with our æsopus code. In this work, we present extended sets of stellar evolutionary models for various initial chemical compositions, while other sets with different metallicities and/or different distributions of heavy elements are being computed. For the present release of models, we adopt the solar distribution of heavy elements from the recent revision by Caffau et al., corresponding to a Sun's metallicity Z ≃ 0.0152. From all computed sets of stellar tracks, we also derive isochrones in several photometric systems. The aim is to provide the community with the basic tools to model star clusters and galaxies by means of population synthesis techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The HST/ACS colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of the populous Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) star cluster NGC 1751 present both a broad main-sequence turn-off and a dual clump of red giants. We show that the latter feature is real and associate it to the first appearance of electron degeneracy in the H-exhausted cores of the cluster stars. We then apply to the NGC 1751 data the classical method of star formation history (SFH) recovery via CMD reconstruction, for different radii corresponding to the cluster centre, the cluster outskirts and the underlying LMC field. The mean SFH derived from the LMC field is taken into account during the stage of SFH recovery in the cluster regions, in a novel approach which is shown to significantly improve the quality of the SFH results. For the cluster centre, we find a best-fitting solution corresponding to prolonged star formation for a time-span of 460 Myr, instead of the two peaks separated by 200 Myr favoured by a previous work based on isochrone fitting. Remarkably, our global best-fitting solution provides an excellent fit to the data - with χ and residuals close to the theoretical minimum - reproducing all the CMD features including the dual red clump. The results for a larger ring region around the centre indicate even longer star formation, but in this case the results are of lower quality, probably because of the differential extinction detected in the area. Therefore, the presence of age gradients in NGC 1751 could not be probed. Together with our previous findings for the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) cluster NGC 419, the present results for the NGC 1751 centre argue in favour of multiple star formation episodes (or continued star formation) being at the origin of the multiple main-sequence turn-offs in Magellanic Cloud clusters with ages around 1.5 Gyr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rich Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) star cluster NGC 419 has recently been found to present both a broad main-sequence turn-off and a dual red clump of giants in the sharp colour–magnitude diagrams (CMDs) derived from the High-Resolution Channel of the Advanced Camera for Surveys onboard the Hubble Space Telescope. In this work, we apply to the NGC 419 data the classical method of star-formation-history (SFH) recovery through CMD reconstruction, deriving for the first time this function for a star cluster with multiple turn-offs. The values for the cluster metallicity, reddening, distance and binary fraction were varied within the limits allowed by present observations. The global best-fitting solution is an excellent fit to the data, reproducing all the CMD features with striking accuracy. The corresponding star-formation rate is provided together with estimates of its random and systematic errors. Star formation is found to last for at least 700 Myr, and to have a marked peak in the middle of this interval, for an age of 1.5 Gyr. Our findings argue in favour of multiple star-formation episodes (or continuous star formation) being at the origin of the multiple main-sequence turn-offs in Magellanic Cloud clusters with ages of about 1 Gyr. It remains to be tested whether alternative hypotheses, such as a main-sequence spread caused by rotation, could produce similarly good fits to the data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colour–magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) star cluster NGC 419, derived from Hubble Space Telescope ( HST)/Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) data, reveal a well-delineated secondary clump located below the classical compact red clump typical of intermediate-age populations. We demonstrate that this feature belongs to the cluster itself, rather than to the underlying SMC field. Then, we use synthetic CMDs to show that it corresponds very well to the secondary clump predicted to appear as a result of He-ignition in stars just massive enough to avoid e−-degeneracy settling in their H-exhausted cores. The main red clump instead is made of the slightly less massive stars which passed through e− degeneracy and ignited He at the tip of the red giant branch. In other words, NGC 419 is the rare snapshot of a cluster while undergoing the fast transition from classical to degenerate H-exhausted cores. At this particular moment of a cluster's life, the colour distance between the main-sequence turn-off and the red clump(s) depends sensitively on the amount of convective core overshooting, . By coupling measurements of this colour separation with fits to the red clump morphology, we are able to estimate simultaneously the cluster mean age Gyr) and overshooting efficiency ( . Therefore, clusters like NGC 419 may constitute important marks in the age scale of intermediate-age populations. After eye inspection of other CMDs derived from HST/ACS data, we suggest that the same secondary clump may also be present in the Large Magellanic Cloud clusters NGC 1751, 1783, 1806, 1846, 1852 and 1917. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]