Abstract
We present the spatially resolved star formation history (SFH) of a
shell-like structure located in the northeastern Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC).
We quantitatively obtain the SFH using unprecedented deep photometric data
(g~24 magnitude) from the SMASH survey and colour-magnitude diagram (CMD)
fitting techniques. We consider, for the first time, the SMC's line-of-sight
depth and its optical effects on the CMDs. The SFH presents higher accuracy
when a line-of-sight depth of ~3 Kpc is simulated. We find young star formation
enhancements at ~150 Myr, ~200 Myr, ~450 Myr, ~650 Myr, and ~1 Gyr. Comparing
the shell's SFH with the Large Magellanic Cloud's (LMC) northern arm SFH we
show strong evidence of synchronicity from at least the past ~2.8 Gyr and,
possibly, the past ~3.5 Gyr. Our results place constraints on the orbital
history of the Magellanic Clouds which, potentially, have implications on their
dynamical mass estimates.