Integrated spectroscopic study of 7 star clusters in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

We present flux-calibrated integrated spectra for 7 star clusters belonging to the Small Magellanic Cloud in the optical range (≈3600-7000 Å), obtained at CASLEO (Argentina). Three out of the 7 clusters were not previously studied so their ages and reddening values are determined for the first time in the current study. Using the equivalent widths of selected spectroscopic lines and comparing the cluster spectra with template spectra of known properties, we derive foreground interstellar reddening and age. The clusters are in the (5-300) Myr age range and their E(B - V) colour excesses were in all cases smaller than 0.12. The present data also contribute to enlarge the cluster spectral library at the metallicity level of the Small Magellanic Cloud. The buildup of such database, which also includes Galactic and Large Magellanic Cloud clusters, is a long-term project that we have been developing and which has proved to be useful in the analysis of stellar populations of extragalactic systems.