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130K

The Astrophysical Journal, 306:130-141,1986 JulyJ

© 1986. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.

H ii REGIONS AND STAR FORMATION IN THE MAGELLANIC CLOUDS

Robert C. Kennicutt, Jr.1
Department of Astronomy, University of Minnesota
AND
Paul W. Hodge1
Department of Astronomy, University of Washington
Received 1985 October 31 ; accepted 1985 December 23
ABSTRACT
We have used photoelectrically calibrated maps of the Ha emission in the Magellanic Clouds to measure
integrated fluxes for several hundred H n regions and to study the properties of the H n region populations in
the galaxies. The H n regions span a range of 104 in luminosity, from objects on the scale of the Orion
Nebula to the 30 Doradus complex. The Ha luminosity function is well represented over this entire range by a
power-law function, indicating that there is no characteristic luminosity scale for the H n regions. The dis-
tributions of nebular diameters, on the other hand, are fitted well by exponential functions, with a scale length
of 80 pc. We have also measured approximate fluxes for several of the extended filamentary networks in the
galaxies. This extended component probability contributes 15%-25% of the total Ha luminosity of the gal-
axies. We have integrated our measurements to estimate the total Ha luminosities, equivalent widths, Lyman
photon production rates, and massive star-formation rates in the galaxies. We compare our results with pre-
vious studies, and with the known stellar contents of the galaxies.
Subject headings: galaxies: Magellanic Clouds — nebulae: H n regions — stars: formation

I. INTRODUCTION distribution of emission and massive star formation with the

The H ii regions in the Magellanic Clouds provide the
opportunity to study the ionized gas component of the inter-
stellar medium and star formation on a galactic scale, with
sensitivity and spatial resolution which are comparable to
most Galactic surveys. The relative proximity of the Magella-
nic Clouds also makes it possible to test the reliability of
optical measurements of H n regions as quantitative star-
formation tracers, because in these galaxies the young stellar
populations can be studied directly.
Photographic Ha emission-line surveys by Henize (1956)
and by Davies, Elliot, and Meaburn (1976; hereafter DEM)
have provided identifications, positions, and sizes for several
hundred H n regions in the two galaxies, ranging in scale from
unresolved compact emission regions to the giant 30 Doradus
complex in the LMC. Emission-line photometry of selected
regions (e.g, Dottori and Bica 1981; Kennicutt 1984; Caplan
and Deharveng 1985) has been used to study the basic physical
properties of the largest complexes and the extinction proper-
ties of the dust in the star-forming regions.
As part of a more general survey of H n region populations
and star formation in nearby galaxies, we have obtained cali-
brated Ha surface photometry for both the LMC and SMC, in
order to quantitatively map the emission in the galaxies and to
measure the integrated properties of the individual discrete
emission regions. In this paper we discuss the properties of the
H ii region populations in the Clouds and compare them with
the H ii region population in the Galaxy. We also provide a
catalog of emission-line fluxes of all of the DEM H n regions
for which we have obtained reliable photometry, for use by
other workers in this field. A future paper will compare the
1
Visiting Astronomer, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Nation-
al Optical Astronomical Observatories, which is operated by AURA, Inc.,
under contract with the National Science Foundation.
130
other stellar and interstellar constituents of the galaxies.
II. OBSERVATIONS
The primary photometry material are four sets of Ha and
red continuum plates of the Magellanic Clouds, taken in 1981
December with the 0.6/0.9 m Curtis Schmidt telescope at Cerro
Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). Each plate covers
a clear field of 5° x 5° with a scale of approximately 96'.'6
mm-1. The SMC is covered in a single field, while three over-
lapping fields covered all but a small corner in the SW part of
the LMC. An additional plate covering this missing region was
kindly obtained for us in 1985 January by Laura Danly, so our
coverage of both galaxies is complete. Our deep exposures are
comparable in sensitivity to those already published in the
DEM atlas and catalog, and the reader is referred to their
paper for a complete photographic atlas and catalog. We shall
use their H ii region identifications and nomenclature through-
out this paper.
Each set of plates consists of long (4-5 hr) and short (0.5-2
hr) exposures in Ha and a short exposure in the red continuum.
Hypersensitized 098-04 plates exposed behind a 40 Â full-
width at half-maximum (FWHM) interference filter were used
for the Ha exposures, while 103a-D plates exposed behind an
OG-570 filter provided an effective continuum bandpass of
5700-6300 Â, with negligible contamination from emission
lines. Both filters provided uniform sensitivity over all but the
outer few arcminutes of the field. Calibration of the relative
intensity scales was provided by exposing companion plates in
the CTIO Weston spot sensitometer and by developing the
pairs of calibration and program plates together.
Digital maps of the plates were made with the PDS micro-
densitometer at Kitt Peak National Observatory. Data pro-
cessing limitations made it impossible to scan the plates at full
resolution, if we were to completely cover the galaxies. For

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198 6ApJ. . .306 . .130K
MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
each field we produced a 2048 x 2048 pixel map, sampled
every 7'.'5. The calibration spot data were then used to convert
the density maps to relative intensity, and for later analysis
these intensity maps were box-averaged to more manageable
512 x 512 arrays, with a sampling interval of 30". This sam-
pling still easily resolves the vast majority of the Magellanic
Clouds H ii regions, which are typically several arcminutes in
diameter. The smallest, most compact H n regions which make
up approximately 20% of the DEM sample cannot be accu-
rately measured from our plates, and the consequences of this
incompleteness will be considered later.
The absolute flux scales of our maps were calibrated with
photoelectric measurements of several H n regions, obtained
with a single-channel photometer on the CTIO Lowell 0.6 m
telescope in 1981 November. A set of 100 Â interference filters
centered on the Ha and [N n] emission lines and two adjacent
continuum bands were used to measure the integrated
emission-line fluxes of seven regions in the LMC and four in
the SMC. We also measured the 30 Doradus H n region at 17
points along a 20" strip, to check both the zero point and the
linearity of the photographic scale. The photometric cali-
bration method has been described in detail elsewhere
(Kennicutt 1979; Kennicutt and Kent 1983). The broad filter
bandpass included both Ha and a small contribution from
[N ii] ; a correction for the latter was applied using the spec-
trophotometry of Peimbert and Torres-Peimbert (1974, 1976)
and Dufour (1975). The photometry provided a direct cali-
bration for the SMC field and two of the LMC fields, while
photographic measurements of 11-14 overlapping regions in
each of the other LMC fields served to calibrate their scales.
Comparison of individual photometric measurements indi-
cates that the absolute flux scales are accurate to about 5% for
the 30 Doradus region, and 10% for the other fields.
The recently published photoelectric data of Caplan and
Deharveng (1985) provide an independent check of our flux
scale. We measured fluxes for eight relatively small, isolated
H ii regions using identical apertures, and find an average flux
ratio of 1.00 + 0.03. The average deviation (8%) is consistent
with our internal error estimates.
The final data set consisted of three images for each field, an
uncorrected Ha plus (40 Â) continuum map, a continuum map,
and a net Ha map, formed from a weighted difference of the
first two maps. In the SMC, where most of the H n regions are
projected against a bright stellar background, the continuum-
subtracted map often provided more accurate measurements
of nebular fluxes than the raw, continuum-contaminated map.
In the LMC, however, most of the H n regions contained a
negligible continuum contamination, and we found that the
noise introduced by the continuum subtraction operation was
considerably larger than the contamination itself. Hence for
the LMC we chose to work from the raw Ha maps and have
applied a small average continuum correction (~4%) as
derived from the photoelectric photometry.
Figure 1 (Plate 11) shows a gray-scale display of the SE
field of the LMC, in the 512 x 512 averaged version. The con-
trast has been enhanced to show the faint filamentary systems
in the 30 Doradus region. Figure 2 (Plate 12) shows the
continuum-subtracted Ha map of the SMC.
III. H II REGION FLUXES
Integrated Ha fluxes have been measured for 240 H n
regions in the LMC and 107 regions in the SMC. In this
section we briefly describe the measuring procedure and uncer-
© American Astronomical Society • Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System
131
tainties and list the results in Tables 1 and 2. We discuss the
properties of the H n region populations in the following sec-
tions.
The H ii region fluxes were measured on the Minnesota
Astronomical Image Processing System, using a digital aper-
ture photometry program written by Kevin Edgar. For rela-
tively isolated H n regions, the flux was measured within a
circular aperture, minus a background measured either in a
surrounding annulus or in a pair of adjacent circular apertures,
as dictated by the local background structure. The H ii region
positions and background regions were determined inter-
actively; the aperture sizes in most cases were chosen to
enclose the major-axis diameters listed in the DEM catalog.2
Roughly half of the DEM objects in each galaxy could be
measured in this way. The others included objects too faint to
measure, a few regions which were located near bright fore-
ground stars (also not measured), extended low surface bright-
ness filamentary systems (discussed separately in § V), and
objects located within crowded associations of two or more
H ii regions. Fluxes for the latter were derived by measuring an
integrated flux for the entire association and then estimating
the relative flux in each component, usually with the aid of
isophotal contour maps of the associations. The individual
fluxes are less accurate in these cases, and in extreme cases the
actual definition of individual H n regions is ambiguous. In
most cases we followed an arbitrary, but at least consistent,
convention of listing individual fluxes for H n regions if they
had been assigned separate ordinal catalog numbers by DEM,
but measured components with a common ordinal DEM
number (for example, DEM 132a and 132b) together as a single
object. The region around 30 Doradus is especially compli-
cated and will be discussed separately in § VI.
Tables 1 and 2 list the integrated fluxes for the H n regions in
the LMC and SMC, respectively. Listed in each table are the
DEM catalog number (col. [1]), aperture diameter in arcmin-
utes (col. [2]), the integrated Ha flux in units of 10“12 ergs
cm-2 s-1 (col. [3]), and any special notes (col. [4]). The nota-
tion “M” in column (2) indicates that more than one H n
region was included in the aperture. If an object is not listed in
the table it was not measured, either because it was too faint or
because it was too near to a much brighter neighboring H n
region. Several of the largest filamentary systems were mea-
sured using a different method, and their estimated fluxes are
listed separately in Table 3 (§ V).
Prospective users of the fluxes listed in Tables 1 and 2 should
be aware of the potential sources of photometric and system-
atic error. For small faint objects, photometric errors are
dominant; the uncertainties listed were estimated by measur-
ing selected objects on two or three plates, and by measuring
several blank fields in the galaxies. For large extended objects,
the background determination is critical, and our error esti-
mates were derived by comparing fluxes measured with several
background determinations in selected test cases. For isolated
objects this uncertainty introduces an error of ~ 10%-15% in
the Ha flux. In crowded regions, the largest source of uncer-
tainty is often the definition of the individual H n region
boundaries themselves. The DEM conventions provide a
useful means of comparing the H n region fluxes with other
2
Note that in Figure 2 in the DEM paper, regions 296, 301, 303, 304, 305,
306, 308, and 309 are misidentified. The positions listed in their Table 2 are
correct.
198 6ApJ. . .306. .130K

PLATE 11

Fig. 1.—Digital Ha emission map of a field in the LMC centered on the 30 Doradus region. The contrast has been enhanced to show the large filament networks.
One tick mark on the scale is 5'.
Kennicutt and Hodge (see page 131)

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198 6ApJ. . .306. .130K

PLATE 12

Fig. 2.—Digital map of the SMC. In this case a continuum map has been subtracted to reduce the influence of the stellar background.
Kennicutt and Hodge (see page 131)

© American Astronomical Society • Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System

 TABLE 1
H ii Regions in the Large Magellanic Cloud

Fiux, F1ux2
DBM Aperture (xlO ) Notes DEM Aperture (xlO Notes

2 2 6 ±2 91 4 5±2
3 2 11 ±2 92 4 17±2
4 7 115±12 93 2 7 ±2
6 15 235±25 94 2 9±2
8a 4M 5±2 96 2 4±2
8b 4M 52±6 99 7 25±4
8c 4M 25 ±3 100 3 4±2
10 10 450±50 101 3 11±2
11 4 55±6 102 3 5±2
12 5 43 ±5 103 4 19±3
13 10 154±16 104 20M 385±40
14 4 11±2 105 10 110±13
15 7 58±6 106 7 115±15
17 5 43 ±5 107 10 255±25
18 3 7±2 108 20M 300±30
19 6 19±3 110 20M 75 ±25
20 3 9±2 111 4 7 ±2
21 4 7 ±2 113 20M 310±60
22 10 375±38 116 3 9±2
25 7 75 ±8 118 3 5 ±2
26 5 44 ±5 119 7 27 ±4
31 11M 220±25 121 3 31±3
32 3 15 ±2 124 3 7 ±2
34 25 2900±300 125 4 29 ±3
36 16 340±35 127 11 43±6
37 3 11±2 128 3 8±2
38 4 67 ±7 129 3 5±2
39 10 475±50 132 25M 1650±100
40 4 11±2 131 4 70±10
41 3 85 ±9 133 15 700±70
42 5 60 ±6 135 14 98±10
44 2 7 ±2 136 4 31±3
45 8 63 ±7 137 20 205±15
46 5 36±4 138 3 43 ±4
47 4 12 ±2 141 2 5±2
50 10 151±16 142 14M 113±15
51 3 9±2 143 2 4±2
52 8 27 ±4 145 6M 24±5
53 4 7 ±2 147 3 6±2
55 12 68±7 148 3 6±2
58 5 8±3 149 6M 53±7
59 10 90 ±9 150 3 10±2
60 4 11±2 152 11M 950±75
63 5 81 ±8 153 6M 12 ±3
64b 3M 22 ±3 155 14M 71 ±15
64a 3M 7 ±2 157 3 14 ±2
65 5 31±3 158 9M 465±40
66 6 155±16 159 4 18±2
67 4 35 ±4 161 3 11 ±2
68 20M 157±20 162 3 14 ±2
69 4 21±2 163 3 15 ±2
70 10M 36±6 164 17 180±15
73 10M 144 ±20 165 8 110±15
77 4 63 ±7 167 5 63±6
79 4 25 ±3 168 4 19±2
80 20 144 ±15 169 2 11±2
81 6 23 ±3 171 3 18±2
82 8 20 ±4 173 6 34±6
84 9 320±30 174 12M 90 ±15
85 2 21±2 175 7 50±5
86 7 580±60 178 12M 63 ±9
87 3 16±2 179 12M 10 ±4
88 8 39±4 180 12M 95 ±10

132

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198 6ApJ. . .306. .130K

TABLE 1—Continued

Fiux« f1
H^2
DEM Aperture (xlO ) Notes DEM Aperture (xlO A¿) Notes

181 6 26±3 255 16 330±40

183 2 6±2 259 4 42±4
185 3 6±2 260 2 13 ±2
186 6 48±5 261 10 1780±200
187 12M 46±7 262 12 580±80
188 3 3±2 263 30 17100±1000 11
189 10 225±20 264 5 14 ±3
190 4 75±15 265 4 95±1
191 3 9+2 267 3 12 ±2
192 12M 860±80 269 16 2260±200
193 7M 91±10 270 10 31±5
196 9M 270±30 271 5 710±70
197 5 82 ±8 272 3 11±2
198 5 34 ±3 273 3 23±3
199 13 920±90 274 4 44 ±4
200 17 152±15 275 2 6±2
202 5 30 ±3 277 2 3 ±2
204 5 11±3 279 2 8±2
205 25M 460±60 280 2 3 ±2
206 5M 4±3 281 4 43 ±4
207 5M 6±3 282 5 36±4
208 14 210±20 283a 2 15 ±2
210 15 325±30 283b 2 13 ±2
213 4 11±2 283c 2 11±2
214 12 99±10 284 15 1980±200
216 4 11±2 285 4 43 ±4
218 10 135±13 287 4 15 ±2
221 25 1250±100 289 2 4±2
222 4 7 ±2 290 2 3 ±2
223 4 15 ±2 291 2 3±2
225 2 5±2 292 2 4±2
226 8 138±15 293 5 202±20
227 16 350±30 294 4 14 ±2
228 12M 400±40 296 4 12±2
229 12 690±70 298a 10 236±20
231 4 63 ±6 298b 8 110±10
233 3 26 ±3 299 6 110±10
234 17 420±30 300 6 141±14
235 15M 54±10 301 10 213±20
236 5 10 ±3 304 10 224±20
238 3 6±2 306 20M 208±20 12
239 15M 81±12 307 3 20 ±2
240 3 19±2 308 10 47 ±5
241 14 1120±100 309 10 116±12
242 7 151±30 10 311 3 45 ±4
243 12 230±20 312 3 19±2
246 20 1500±300 10 315 7 32±4
247 6 10 ±3 316 5 21±3
248 12 470±100 10 318 3 4 ±2
249 3 8±2 319 3 3 ±2
250 8 85±8 320 3 3 ±2
251 4 25 ±3 322 3 26±3
252 5 139±14 323 6 400±40
253 3 39±4 326 8 93 ±9
254 7 37±4
Notes.—(1) Aperture includes DEM 30, 31 ; (2) Aperture includes DEM 123,132a, 132b; (3) Aperture includes
DEM 133, 134; (4) Aperture includes DEM 140, 151, 152, 156; (5) Aperture includes DEM 158, 160, 166a, 166b;
(6) H ii region composed on 4 distinct knots, of approximately equal flux. Flux quoted is the total; (7) Aperture
includes DEM 184, 193; (8) Aperture includes DEM 201, 205; (9) Aperture includes DEM 220, 228a, 228b, 228c;
(10) Noncircular aperture used; (11) 30 Doradus. See Table 4 for other apertures; (12) Aperture includes DEM
302, 306.

133

© American Astronomical Society • Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System

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H il Regions in the Small Magellanic Cloud

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198 6ApJ. . .306. .130K

MAGELLANIC CLOUDS 135

TABLE 3
Filament Networks
Galaxy DEM Diameter Fluxa
LMC 177 30' x 20' 370 ± 100
LMC 203 25' x 20' 530 ± 150
LMC 224 25' x 20' 300 ± 100
LMC 232 30'x 15' 1300 ± 400
LMC 310 60' x 40' 2200 ± 800
SMC 167 35' x 30' 400 ± 200
a 12 2
Flux units are 10 ergs cm s \

types of measurements, but for critical applications the actual

Hoc emission distributions should be used.
IV. PROPERTIES OF THE H II REGION POPULATIONS
The physical properties of the star-forming regions in gal-
axies appear to span a large range, and these differences, mani-
fested as differences in the degree of “ resolution ” on optical
photographs, constitute one of the principal determinants of a
galaxy’s Hubble type. The H n region populations provide a
convenient means of quantifying these gradients and for sys-
tematically studying the dependence of star formation on the
physical conditions in galaxies. We can sample the H n region
populations in the Clouds much more completely than those in
other external galaxies, so it is useful to discuss their properties
in some detail.

Fig. 3—Ha luminosity function for H n regions in the LMC. Lower curve
is uncorrected for incompleteness.
a) Luminosity Functions
Figure 3 shows the Ha luminosity function of the H n
regions in the LMC, while Figure 4 shows the same for the
SMC. Absolute fluxes are plotted, assuming distances of 50 kpc
and 70 kpc to the LMC and SMC, respectively. The ordinate
N(f)/df is the number of H n regions per linear (apparent) flux
interval, normalized to an arbitrary scale of unity at 1038 ergs
s'1. The error bars are simply Poisson ^AT uncertainties; to
maintain good sampling over most of the flux range we have
binned the data at logarithmic intervals. No correction for
extinction (other than foreground Galactic extinction) has
been applied.
At low flux levels our photometry is incomplete, but we can
make an approximate correction to the luminosity function.
Most of the unmeasured H n regions are faint objects less than
2' in diameter; we tabulated the luminosity function for objects
of this size which we could measure (roughly half of the DEM
sample in this diameter range), and applied it to the missing
objects. The other missing H n regions are a few large extended
low surface brightness objects (coded as “faint” or “very
faint ” in the DEM catalog), and again we compiled the lumin-
osity function for similar measured objects and applied it to the
missing sample. We show both uncorrected and corrected
luminosity functions in Figures 3-4; the correction is only
important at the lowest flux levels, where photometric errors
and incompleteness in the DEM catalog are also important
Figures 3-4 quantitatively illustrate the diversity of the H n
regions in the galaxies. The nebulae span a luminosity range of
nearly 4 orders of magnitude. The faintest regions, with Ha

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198 6ApJ. . .306. .130K

136 KENNICUTT AND HODGE Vol. 306

36 _1
luminosities of ~ 10 ergs s , are comparable to small
Galactic H n regions. For comparison, the Orion Nebula’s Ha
luminosity is approximately 4 x 1036 ergs s_1 (Gebel 1968).
Hence the majority of the H it regions in the DEM catalog are
probably ionized by single late-type O stars or small groups of
early B stars, and are comparable in luminosity to the most
common optically identified H n regions in the Galaxy. On the
other hand, bright objects like 30 Doradus are absent in the
Galaxy (see, e.g., Israel 1976; Kennicutt 1984).
Except at faint levels where incompleteness effects are
important, the corrected luminosity functions are well rep-
resented by power laws (a straight line in Figs. 3-4). For a
power law of the form
N(f)/df= Af~a , (1)
fitting of the corrected luminosity functions (excluding the
faintest point) yields slopes a = 1.65 ± 0.15 for the EMC and
1.75 ± 0.15 for the SMC. This can be compared to a slope of
2.5 for NGC 628 (Kennicutt and Hodge 1980). We will be
making further comparisons of this parameter for about 30
galaxies in a future paper. Although these slopes are identical
to within their formal uncertainties, the slightly slope in the
SMC may be real, reflecting the absence of very luminous
complexes. Except for this difference, however, the luminosity
functions in the EMC and SMC are indistinguishable.
The power-law form of the luminosity functions implies that Fig. 5.—Distributions of H n region diameters for the LMC (upper curve)
there is no characteristic luminosity scale for H n regions in and SMC (lower). Diameters are taken directly from DEM.
these galaxies. The absence of a break near L(Ha) = 5 x TO37
ergs s-1 is a bit surprising, since that level corresponds to the so qualitatively different. If the H n regions were isolated
limiting luminosity of H n regions ionized by single stars. ionization-bounded zones within a uniform-density neutral
Above this level the H n regions must be ionized by associ- medium, we would expect the Strömgren radii to exhibit a
ations of OB stars, and the continuity in the flux distribution power-law distribution :
suggests that over most of its observed range, the Ha lumin-
N(R)/dR = BR2-3« , (2)
osity function is probably tracing the distribution of stellar
association masses, rather than the stellar UV luminosity func- where a is the power-law slope of the differential luminosity
tion or initial mass function. function [see eq. (1)]. The actual diameter distributions in
Figure 5 are much shallower than the R~3 power laws which
b) Diameters are predicted by equation (2). The most obvious reason for the
The shape of the nebular luminosity function is very differ- breakdown of this simple scaling argument is the systematic
ent from the distribution of H n region diameters. Studies by variation of density in the H n regions. The larger H n regions
van den Bergh (1981) and Hodge (1983) have shown that the are less dense on average (Israel 1976; Kennicutt 1984), and the
integral diameter distributions of H n regions in the Magella- rms density decreases radially from the center of all but the
nic Clouds and other irregular galaxies are represented well by ringlike H n regions; both effects will tend to make the H n
exponential functions. In Figure 5 we show the differential region diameter distribution shallower than the power law in
(DEM catalog) diameter distributions for the H n regions in equation (2). Why the actual distributions so closely approx-
the EMC and SMC, plotted on a semi-logarithmic scale. The imate exponential functions is not clear, however.
diameter distributions are very well fitted by exponential func-
tions, with lengths of 80 + 7 pc for the EMC and 77 + 13 pc c) Emission Measures
for the SMC. Although this surprising similarity in scale A useful parameter which can be derived from the measured
lengths could rekindle old hopes that H n region diameters are nebular fluxes and diameters is the characteristic emission
standard yardsticks after all, the agreement is probably for- measure of the H n regions. When combined with the diameter
tuitious. Van den Bergh (1981) used the independent diameter distribution it can be used to qualitatively compare the elec-
measurements of Henize (1956) to determine the scale lengths tron densities in H n region populations. Histograms of the
of the Magellanic Clouds H n regions, and though he also emission measures for the H n regions in Tables 1 and 2 are
found good fits to exponential functions, the scale lengths he shown in Figure 6. As expected, the H n regions exhibit a large
derived for the two galaxies differ by a factor of 2. Hodge (1983) range in surface brightness. The lower limit near an emission
has compiled H n region diameters for 18 irregular galaxies measure of 100 cm-6 pc simply reflects the detection limit of
and finds a large range in scale lengths. our survey and the DEM catalog. Very compact (diameter < 1
Earlier we noted that the nebular luminosity functions were pc) and bright H n regions would not be resolved in the exist-
well represented by power laws; the best exponential fits ing surveys.
underestimate the number of faint H n regions by 1-2 orders of Very dense high surface brightness H n regions are notably
magnitude. It is not clear to us why the nebular luminosities absent from Figure 6. Such regions are very common in the
and diameters should possess distribution functions which are Galaxy (Habing and Israel 1979), though observational selec-

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198 6ApJ. . .306. .130K
No. 1, 1986
.KH\K\\K\M\\\K\\K'l'\K\M\\M\\\r\\\|\-KM\\
100
Fig. 6.—Distribution of mean emission measures for measured H n regions in the LMC and SMC
tion effects could explain part of the difference. Recent CO
surveys of the Magellanic Clouds have shown that molecular
gas is strongly depleted in the star-forming regions in the
Clouds, relative to the Galaxy (Cohen, Montani, and Rubio
1985), and perhaps the differences in molecular and ionized gas
properties are related. On the other hand, we observe no pro-
nounced differences between the H n region populations in the
LMC and SMC, despite large differences in CO emission in the
two galaxies.
V. THE FILAMENT NETWORKS AND DIFFUSE EMISSION
Both Clouds possess extended filamentary structures which
are unassociated with any particular H n region (see, e.g.,
DEM; Meaburn 1979, 1980, 1981). These networks are espe-
cially prominent in the LMC, as illustrated in Figure 1.
Meaburn (1980) has identified nine “supergiant shells” in the
LMC, and one in the SMC. Global networks of Ha filaments
are rarely observed in other galaxies, though prominent struc-
tures are common among very active star-forming galaxies, for
example NGC 1569 (Hodge 1974) and NGC 4449 (Sabbadin
and Bianchini 1979). Faint filaments like those in the Magella-
nic Clouds would probably escape detection in more distant
galaxies, merging instead into a diffuse background emission.
The filament systems in the Clouds provide an opportunity to
study this extended component of the ionized gas in galaxies.
Here we concentrate on the photometric properties of the net-
works and their integrated contribution to the emission-line
luminosities of the Clouds. More detailed studies of the struc-
ture, kinematics, and origin of the shells may be found else-
where (e.g., Meaburn 1980; Caulet et al 1982; Georgelin et al.
1983).
Estimates of the integrated Ha fluxes of several networks are
listed in Table 3. The fluxes were estimated in two ways. For
the highest surface- brightness regions (e.g., DEM 177 and 232
in the LMC), we applied the same method of simulated aper-
ture photometry that was used for the discrete H n regions. We
© American Astronomical Society • Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System
137
1000 10000
EM (cm6 pc)
also derived crude integrated fluxes by measuring the bright-
ness of small filamentary segments and integrating over the
total length of the networks. This latter procedure assumes
that the visible filaments are projections of thin sheets or tubes
of material, rather than complete spherical shells; in the latter
case our flux estimates will be lower limits. The uncertainties
were estimated by comparing the fluxes derived using the two
different methods. For DEM 177 and 232 results agree to
better than 30%, though for the fainter networks the error
could be as high as 50%.
Comparison of the fluxes in Table 3 with those of the dis-
crete H ii regions in Tables 1 and 2 shows that many of the
filamentary networks are among the most luminous structures
(in integrated luminosity) in the galaxies. It is interesting to
estimate the total contribution of the filaments to the inte-
grated Ha luminosities of the Magellanic Clouds. For the
LMC, the five networks listed in Table 3 emit a total of
(5 ± 2) x 10“9 ergs cm-2 s_1 in Ha. Meaburn (1980) lists five
other “ supergiant ” shells which are too faint to be measured
on our plates. If we assume that these shells (and any other
uncataloged structures) contribute a comparable luminosity,
then the total contribution from the extended filaments is
approximately 10“8 ergs cm-2 s-1. The total Ha flux from
resolved H n regions in the LMC (see § VII) is 7 x 10"8 ergs
cm“2 s"1, so the extended component is roughly 15% of the
total emission-line luminosity of the galaxy. It is possible that
we have missed a significant contribution from a very
extended, diffuse medium, but in any case the total contribu-
tion from diffuse gas (including the filaments) is probably 25%
or less. It is more difficult to make a quantitative estimate for
the SMC; while several filament systems are visible, the bright
background makes them difficult to measure. Meaburn (1980)
has identified only one supergiant shell in the SMC, and our
flux estimate is very uncertain. In both galaxies it appears that
the diffuse component is a significant, but not dominant, con-
tributor to the integrated emission-line flux. Observations of a
198 6ApJ. . .30 6. .130K

138 KENNICUTT AND HODGE Vol. 306

15 1
Fig. 7,—Smoothed Ha contour map of the 30 Doradus region in the LMC. Contours are of 1,2, 5,10, 20, 50, and 100 x 10 ergs cm arcsec in Ha.

few other galaxies suggest that the fraction of diffuse emission calibrating photoelectric measurements, while the others were
varies considerably. In the giant Sc galaxy NGC 628 it is prob- derived digitally from our photographic photometry. (The
ably lower (Kennicutt and Hodge 1980), while in galaxies with apertures larger than 30' include emission from neighboring
unusually widespread bursts of star formation and well- DEM H ii regions.) The integrated luminosity of even the
developed global filament systems, such as M82 or NGC 4449, central 30 minutes is prodigious, amounting to 25% of the
it may be considerably higher. total emission of the LMC, and twice the total emission of the
SMC! Roughly half of the LMC’s emission is produced within
VI. THE 30 DORADUS REGION a 90' region centered around 30 Dor (see § VII). The reader
The 30 Doradus complexes the brightest H n region in the should be warned against using the latter fluxes to infer the
Local Group and is responsible for a substantial fraction of the Lyman continuum properties of the central star cluster NGC
integrated Ha emission of the LMC. 30 Doradus itself is sur- 2070 or of the compact object R136a; several prominent stellar
rounded by several other H n regions which are also among associations containing several hundred stars are located
the brightest in the galaxy. In view of the broad interest in this within a 45' radius of the center of 30 Dor (Lucke and Hodge
unusual H n region, we present more detailed photometry of 1970), and it is likely that these outlying associations provide
the region. much or all of the ionization in the outer regions of the nebula.
As with many giant H n regions, it is difficult to assign an
unambiguous boundary to the 30 Dor nebula. The flux listed
in Table 1 is for a circular aperture of 30' diameter, the diam-
eter which is usually assigned to the main H n region (Henize
1956; Sandage and Tammann 1974; DEM). Figure 7 is a TABLE 4
smoothed Ha contour map of the region and shows that the The 30 Doradus Region
emission extends continuously over a region of well over a Aperture Diameter Ha Flux3
degree in diameter (see also Fig. 1). Radio continuum surveys
show an even larger envelope centered on 30 Dor (see, e.g., 100" 740
Mills, Turtle, and Watkinson 1978; Cersosimo and Loiseau 5' 3600
1984). This extended structure has led to considerable confu- 10' 7700
15' 10800
sion in the literature. Published estimates of the total ioniza- 20' 13100
tion requirement of the nebula have ranged from 1051 to 30' 17100
3 x 1052 photon s-1, depending on the nebular size and 40' 20200
extinction assumed. 60' 26500
90' 36000
Table 4 lists integrated Ha fluxes within apertures ranging
3 12
from 100" to 90' in diameter. The smallest aperture is one of the Units 10 ergs cm 2s 1

© American Astronomical Society • Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System

198 6ApJ. . .306. .130K
No. 1, 1986 MAGELLANIC CLOUDS
TABLE 5
Integrated Properties
LMC
Uncorrected
d (kpc) (assumed) 50
Bt (assumed) -2 -1 0.63
/(Ha)(ergs cm _1
s ) 6.7 x 10“408
L(Ha)(ergss
1
) 2.0 x 1052
^(s“ ) , 1.5 x 10
N* (05 V) 300
N*{>50Mq) 270
SFR(> 10 M0) _1 M0 yr-1 0.022
SFR(est)M0yr 0.14
Wx(Ha) Â 31
Wk (Ha + [N il]) Â 33
VII. INTEGRATED PROPERTIES
Table 5 lists several relevant integrated properties of the
Magellanic Clouds. The integrated broad-band magnitudes
were taken from de Vaucouleurs, de Vaucouleurs, and Corwin
(1976), and the other parameters were derived by integrating
the Ha luminosity functions measured here. Two sets of results
are listed for each galaxy, the observed values, uncorrected for
extinction in the galaxies, and a second set which assumes an
average extinction Av = 1 mag in the H n regions. This latter
correction is probably a conservative upper limit, based on
comparisons of radio and Balmer fluxes of the brightest H n
regions (Israel and Kennicutt 1980). The extinction actually
varies considerably within the galaxies (Caplan and Deharveng
1985), and the average extinction is probably lower in the SMC
H ii regions. The comparison in Table 5 is intended merely to
bracket the approximate range of the derived properties and to
illustrate the importance of the extinction correction.
The total Ha fluxes and luminosities were derived by
summing the fluxes of all of the resolved H n regions, including
a correction for unmeasured objects, and adding 15% for
extended filamentary emission, as discussed in § V. If there is a
very extended diffuse emission below our detection limit, it
would not be included in our totals. We have also converted
the Ha luminosities to corresponding ionization requirements,
assuming that the bulk of the emission arises from the usual
case B recombination at 10,000 K (Brocklehurst 1971). The
numbers of massive stars which are needed to provide this
ionization are also listed. One set of values is simply the
number of 05 V stars which would be needed to provide all of
the ionization; this assumes a typical ionizing luminosity of
5 x 1049 s_1 per star (Panagia 1973). A more realistic estimate
can be derived by assuming that the OB stars are distributed
with a Salpeter (1955) initial mass function, terminating at 100
Mq (Kennicutt 1983). While this assumption is certainly
unrealistic within individual star-forming regions, it is prob-
ably a reasonable representation of the overall massive stellar
population in the galaxies as a whole. In Table 5 we list the
expected number of stars with M > 50 M0. This latter set of
numbers is useful, because it should be possible to obtain rela-
tively complete surveys of OB stars in the Magellanic Clouds
down to this level (Garmany 1985; Massey 1985).
It is interesting to compare our results with previous esti-
mates of the photoionization and massive star formation in the
Magellanic Clouds. Schmidt (1972) published a low-resolution
Ha contour map of the SMC, based on a set of photoelectric
scans. Although he does not list an integrated flux for the
© American Astronomical Society • Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System
139
SMC LMC SMC
Uncorrected Av = 1 mag Ay = 1 mag
70 50 70
2.79-9 0.63-7 2.79-8
9.0 x 1039 1.4 x 1040 1.8 x 1040
5.4 x 10 4.1 x 1052 1.1 x 10
4.0 x 1051 3.1 x 10 8.0 x 1051
80 600 160
70 550 150
0.006 0.046 0.013
0.038 0.29 0.08
34
36
galaxy, we were able to integrate his published contour map,
and convert from the published units of 10th magnitude stars
per square degree, to derive an approximate total Ha flux of
1.0 x 10“8 ergs cm-2 s_1. The corresponding Lyman contin-
uum photon luminosity, 4.3 x 1051 s-1, is in excellent agree-
ment with an independent conversion by Lequeux (1984).
Schmidt’s flux agrees with ours to within the combined uncer-
tainties of the two measurements, though the difference (his
flux is approximately 10% higher) could indicate the presence
of diffuse emission which is missed in our survey. In any case,
the agreement is gratifying.
Israel (1980) has estimated total Lyman continuum photon
production rates in the Magellanic Clouds, using multi-
frequency radio continuum data. His rates are much higher
than ours; NL = 1.3 x 1052 s-1 for the SMC and 6.6 x 1052
s"1 for the LMC. These results can be reconciled with ours
only if the average optical extinction is very high, Av = 1.7-2.0
mag. Israel and Kennicutt (1980) find that extinction this high
is common in giant H n regions, though it would be very
surprising if the average extinction in the Clouds were this
high. Israel has noted that the radio-derived Lyman pro-
duction rates are sensitive to contamination by nonthermal
emission, and in the Magellanic Clouds this contamination is
substantial. It is possible that his correction has underesti-
mated the nonthermal contribution, though it seems unlikely
that this effect alone can explain the factor of 4 difference with
the uncorrected optically derived production rates. Probably
the radio and (uncorrected) optical results should be regarded
as providing conservative upper and lower limits, respectively,
to the actual Lyman production and massive star formation
rates in the galaxies.
Massey (1985) has crudely estimated total populations of
~200 stars >50 M© in the LMC, and 50 in the SMC, based
on existing catalogs of massive stars in the galaxies. Our esti-
mates are 50%-150% higher, indicating either a breakdown of
the simple photoionization model we use, or larger incomplete-
ness in the stellar statistics than Massey assumed. This discrep-
ancy is much less than the factor of 15 disagreement between
Massey’s (1985) estimate of the number of O stars and the
Israel (1980) Lyman production rates. Our results suggest that
these discrepancies arise from a combination of several factors,
possibly including nonthermal contamination of the radio
emission, unaccounted incompleteness in the stellar statistics, a
much steeper initial mass function (IMF) in Massey’s photo-
ionization calculation, and perhaps a real, but much smaller,
error in the conversion from nebular emission to numbers of
198 6ApJ, . .306. .130K
140 KENNICUTT AND HODGE
massive stars. In the latter case, our Ha-derived estimate of the
number of massive stars could be systematically high if the
initial mass function above 30 M0 were shallower than a Sal-
peter power law, or if the stellar mass limit in the Clouds is
considerably higher than 100 M0. Studies of the stellar popu-
lations in individual H n regions should provide a much more
thorough assessment of the reliability of the H n region emis-
sion properties, both optical and radio, as quantitative star
formation tracers.
Finally, we used the integrated broad-band magnitudes and
Ha fluxes of the Magellanic Clouds to estimate their integrated
star-formation rates and emission-line equivalent widths.
These make it possible to directly compare the Ha emission
and massive star formation in the Clouds with those in other
galaxies (Kennicutt and Kent 1983; Kennicutt 1983). The star-
formation rate estimates were derived using the model in Ken-
nicutt (1983), with a small correction to reflect the slightly
shallower IMF above 10 M0 used here. The integrated red
continuum luminosities of the galaxies were estimated using
the integrated BV magnitudes in de Vaucouleurs et al, and the
average (jB —6563) continuum colors of similar galaxies
(Kennicutt and Kent 1983). The results are listed in Table 5.
Within the uncertainties of this computation the emission-line
equivalent widths of the two galaxies are similar, 30-35 Â for
Ha alone. Again we probably have missed some diffuse line
emission, so the total equivalent width could be as high as 40
Â. These values are typical for late-type irregular galaxies, and
considerably higher than the median for spiral galaxies (Cohen
1976; Kennicutt and Kent 1983). Galaxies with steady star-
formation histories should possess Ha equivalent widths of
20-25 Â (Kennicutt 1983), so the higher emission in the Clouds
suggests that the current star-formation rates in the galaxies
are somewhat higher than the average rate in the past, in
accordance with several other observations. It should be noted,
however, that the star-formation “bursts” represent only
modest enhancements over a steady rate in these galaxies, and
levels of Ha emission which are several times less than in
typical “starburst” galaxies (Kennicutt et al 1986). Hunter
and Gallagher (1985) observe similarly moderate variations of
star-formation activity in a much larger sample of Magellanic
irregular galaxies.
VIII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
We have used photoelectrically calibrated surface photo-
metry of the Ha emission in the Magellanic Clouds to measure
integrated fluxes for several hundred H n regions and to study
the statistical properties of the H n region populations in the
galaxies.
1. The H ii regions we measured span a range of over 104 in
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the Clouds extends considerably higher than 100 M0.
It is a pleasure to thank the CTIO staff for their assistance
with the observations, and Kevin Edgar and Leigh Radke for
help with the data reduction. We are especially grateful to
Laura Danly for generously taking plates of one of the fields
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grant 81-11711A01, a research grant from the University of
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Paul W. Hodge: Department of Astronomy, FM-20, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195

Robert C. Kennicutt, Jr. : University of Minnesota, Department of Astronomy, 116 Church Street, SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455

© American Astronomical Society Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data System