Journal
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 391, Issue 1, Pages L93-L97Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-3933.2008.00563.x
Keywords
Magellanic Clouds; galaxies: star clusters; galaxies: structure
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The projected distribution of stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) from the Magellanic Clouds Photometric Survey is analysed. Stars of different ages are selected via criteria based on V magnitude and V - I colour, and the degree of 'grouping' as a function of age is studied. We quantify the degree of structure using the two-point correlation function and a method based on the Minimum Spanning Tree and find that the overall structure of the SMC is evolving from a high degree of substructure at young ages (similar to 10 Myr) to a smooth radial density profile. This transition is gradual and at similar to 75 Myr the distribution is statistically indistinguishable from the background SMC distribution. This time-scale corresponds to approximately the dynamical crossing time of stars in the SMC. The spatial positions of the star clusters in the SMC show a similar evolution of spatial distribution with age. Our analysis suggests that stars form with a high degree of (fractal) substructure, probably imprinted by the turbulent nature of the gas from which they form, which is erased by random motions in the galactic potential on a time-scale of a galactic crossing time.
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