The sub-solar initial mass function in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

The Magellanic Clouds offer a unique variety of star forming regions seen as bright nebulae of ionized gas, related to bright young stellar associations. Nowadays, observations with the high resolving efficiency of the Hubble Space Telescope allow the detection of the faintest infant stars, and a more complete picture of clustered star formation in our dwarf neighbors has emerged. I present results from our studies of the Magellanic Clouds, with emphasis in the young low-mass pre-main sequence populations. Our data include imaging with the Advanced Camera for Surveys of the association LH 95 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, the deepest observations ever taken with HST of this galaxy. I discuss our findings in terms of the initial mass function, which we constructed with an unprecedented completeness down to the sub-solar regime, as the outcome of star formation in the low-metallicity environment of the LMC. © 2009 International Astronomical Union.