2dF-AAOmega spectroscopy of massive stars in the Magellanic Clouds:
The north-eastern region of the Large Magellanic Cloud

C. J. Evans, J. Th. van Loon, R. Hainich, M. Bailey


We present spectral classifications from optical spectroscopy of 263 massive stars in the north-eastern region of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The observed two-degree field includes the massive 30 Doradus star-forming region, the environs of SN1987A, and a number of star-forming complexes to the south of 30 Dor. These are the first classifications for the majority (203) of the stars and include eleven double-lined spectroscopic binaries. The sample also includes the first examples of early OC-type spectra (AAΩ 30 Dor 248 and 280), distinguished by the weakness of their nitrogen spectra and by CIV λ4658 emission. We propose that these stars have relatively unprocessed CNO abundances compared to morphologically normal O-type stars, indicative of an earlier evolutionary phase. From analysis of observations obtained on two consecutive nights, we present radial-velocity estimates for 233 stars, finding one apparent single-lined binary and nine (>3σ) outliers compared to the systemic velocity; the latter objects could be runaway stars or large-amplitude binary systems and further spectroscopy is required to investigate their nature


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Paper in NASA ADS


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