Stellar cluster candidates discovered in the Magellanic System

TL;DR

This study uses wide-field imaging data from the SMASH survey to identify new stellar cluster candidates in the Magellanic Clouds' periphery, finding few new clusters and suggesting survey completeness limits.

Contribution

It introduces a method for detecting stellar clusters using kernel density estimators and accounts for survey completeness, providing new candidate identifications.

Findings

Few new stellar cluster candidates found, mostly in outer regions.

Survey completeness may explain the limited number of detections.

Results suggest the survey's current coverage is close to complete.

Abstract

We address the presently exciting issue of the presence of stellar clusters in the periphery of the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) and beyond by making use of a wealth of wide-field high-quality images released in advance from the Magellanic Stellar Hystory (SMASH) survey. We conducted a sound search for new stellar cluster candidates from suitable kernel density estimators running for appropriate ranges of radii and stellar densities. In addition, we used a functional relationship to account for the completeness of the SMASH field sample analyzed that takes into account not only the number of fields used but also their particular spatial distribution; the present sample statistically represents ~ 50$% of the whole SMASH survey. The relative small number of new stellar cluster candidates identified, most of them distributed in the outer regions of the Magellanic Clouds, might suggest that the lack of detection of a larger number of new cluster candidates beyond the main bodies of the Magellanic Clouds could likely be the outcome once the survey be completed.