Protostars and Planets VI, Heidelberg, July 15-20, 2013

Poster 1H026

Young Stellar Objects in the Low-Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud

Sewilo, Marta (Johns Hopkins University & Space Science Institute)
Carlson, Lynn R. (Leiden Observatory)
Seale, Jonathan (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Indebetouw, Remy (University of Virginia)
Meixner, Margaret (Space Telescope Science Institute)
Whitney, Barbara (University of Wisconsin - Madison & Space Science Institute)
Robitaille, Thomas P. (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy)
Oliveira, Joana M. (Keele University)
Gordon, Karl (Space Telescope Science Institute)

Abstract:
The Small Magellanic Cloud offers unique opportunities to study star formation in a low metallicity environment on galactic scales and within individual star-forming regions, clouds, and clusters. The proximity of the SMC (~60 kpc) makes it an ideal place for such studies without the confusion and extinction of the Galactic plane. The Spitzer Legacy Program ``Surveying the Agents of Galaxy Evolution in the Tidally-Stripped, Low-Metallicity Small Magellanic Cloud\" (SAGESMC; Gordon et al. 2011) allows a global study of star formation in the SMC at high enough resolution to resolve individual cores and protostars at a range of mid-IR wavelengths. Using the SAGE-SMC IRAC (3.6 - 8.0 microns) and MIPS (24 and 70 microns) catalogs and images combined with the near-IR and optical data, we identified a population of ~1000 intermediate- to high-mass Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) in the SMC (3x more than previously known). We investigate the properties of the YSOs and how they relate to the galaxy\'s structure and gas and dust distribution.

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