OGLE Collection of Star Clusters. New Objects in the Outskirts of the Large Magellanic Cloud

TL;DR

This paper presents a comprehensive catalog of 679 star clusters in the outer regions of the Large Magellanic Cloud, including 226 newly identified clusters, using deep photometric data from OGLE-IV.

Contribution

The study provides the most complete homogeneous catalog of star clusters in the LMC's outskirts, including newly discovered objects, enhancing understanding of the system's formation history.

Findings

Identified 226 new star cluster candidates.

Catalog includes mainly young small open clusters.

Clusters cover an area of about 225 square degrees.

Abstract

The Magellanic System (MS), consisting of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and the Magellanic Bridge (MBR), contains diverse sample of star clusters. Their spatial distribution, ages and chemical abundances may provide important information about the history of formation of the whole System. We use deep photometric maps derived from the images collected during the fourth phase of The Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE-IV) to construct the most complete catalog of star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud using the homogeneous photometric data. In this paper we present the collection of star clusters found in the area of about 225 square degrees in the outer regions of the LMC. Our sample contains 679 visually identified star cluster candidates, 226 of which were not listed in any of the previously published catalogs. The new clusters are mainly young small open clusters or clusters similar to associations.