The star-forming complex LMC-N79 as a future rival to 30 Doradus

• Published in: Nature astronomy Vol. 1; no. 11; pp. 784 - 790
• Main Authors: Ochsendorf, Bram B., Zinnecker, Hans, Nayak, Omnarayani, Bally, John, Meixner, Margaret, Jones, Olivia C., Indebetouw, Remy, Rahman, Mubdi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-11-2017; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 639/33/34/863; 639/33/34/865; 639/33/34/867; Astronomy; Astrophysics and Cosmology; Lawns; Letter; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Star & galaxy formation
• ISSN: 2397-3366; 2397-3366
• DOI: 10.1038/s41550-017-0268-0

Within the early Universe, ‘extreme’ star formation may have been the norm rather than the exception
1
,
2
. Super star clusters (with masses greater than 10
5
solar masses) are thought to be the modern-day analogues of globular clusters, relics of a cosmic time (redshift
z
 ≳ 2) when the Universe was filled with vigorously star-forming systems
3
. The giant H 
ii
region 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud is often regarded as a benchmark for studies of extreme star formation
4
. Here, we report the discovery of a massive embedded star-forming complex spanning about 500 pc in the unexplored southwest region of the Large Magellanic Cloud, which manifests itself as a younger, embedded twin of 30 Doradus. Previously known as N79, this region has a star-formation efficiency greater than that of 30 Doradus, by a factor of about 2, as measured over the past ~0.5 Myr. Moreover, at the heart of N79 lies the most luminous infrared compact source discovered with large-scale infrared surveys of the Large Magellanic Cloud and Milky Way, possibly a precursor to the central super star cluster of 30 Doradus, R136. The discovery of a nearby candidate super star cluster may provide invaluable information to understand how extreme star formation proceeds in the current and high-redshift Universe.
The relatively unexplored southwestern region of the Large Magellanic Cloud is host to a massive, embedded star-forming complex that rivals the star-forming efficiency of 30 Doradus. Its most luminous object could be a super star cluster in formation.