Large-scale star formation in the Magellanic Clouds

In this contribution I will present the current status of our project of stellar population analyses and spatial information of both Magellanic Clouds (MCs). The Magellanic Clouds are suitable laboratories and testing ground for theoretical models of star formation. With distance moduli of 18.5 and 18.9 mag for the LMC and SMC, respectively, and small galactic extinction, their stellar content can be studied in detail from the most massive stars of the youngest populations (< 25 Myr) connected to Hα emission down to the low mass end of about 1 10 of a solar mass. Especially the LMC with its large size and small depth (< 300 pc) is a prefered target to constrain star formation mechanisms. Based on broad-band photometry (U,B, V ) I present results for the supergiant shell (SGS) SMC1, some regions at the LMC east side incl. LMC2 showing different overlapping young populations and the region around N171 with its large and varying colour excess, and LMC4. This best studied SGS shows a coeval population aged about 12 Myr with little age spread and no correlation to distance from LMC4’s centre. I will show that the available data are not compatible with many of the proposed scenarios like SSPSF or a central trigger (like a cluster or GRB), while a large-scale trigger like the bow-shock of the rotating LMC can do the job. Please note that this verion has low resolution images; the contribution is available in full quality at the URL: ’ftp://ftp.astro.uni-bonn.de/pub/jbraun/gkic/jmb dge.ps.gz’ !