The age-metallicity relationship for the clusters of the Large Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

Moderate dispersion spectrophotometric scans with an intensified Reticon array have been obtained using the du Pont telescope of the Las Campanas Observatory for 38 stars expected to be members of 15 clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Ages for these clusters are deduced from a transformation of their classification in the scheme of Searle, Wilkinson, and Bagnuolo (1980). Abundances are derived from the scans using a crude analysis applied to computer-generated pseudoequivalent widths calibrated by identical observations of 42 stars in six galactic globular clusters and by several galactic supergiants. A strong age-metallicity relationship is found and the chemical history of the LMC is discussed. Unlike the solar neighborhood or galactic halo, simple models of chemical evolution are adequate to fit the derived age-abundance correlation.