We derive the star formation history for several regions of the LMC, using deep near-infrared data from the VISTA near-infrared YJKs survey of the Magellanic system (VMC). The regions include three almost-complete 1.4 sqdeg tiles located 3.5 deg away
from the LMC centre in distinct directions. To this dataset, we add two 0.036 sqdeg subregions inside the 30 Doradus tile. The SFH is derived from the simultaneous reconstruction of two different CMDs, using the minimization code StarFISH. The distance modulus (m-M)_0 and extinction Av is varied within intervals 0.2 and 0.5 mag wide, respectively, within which we identify the best-fitting star formation rate SFR(t), age-metallicity relation (AMR), (m-M)_0 and Av. Our results demonstrate that VMC data, due to the combination of depth and little sensitivity to differential reddening, allow the derivation of the space-resolved SFH of the LMC with unprecedented quality compared to previous wide-area surveys. In particular, the data clearly reveal the presence of peaks in the SFR(t) at ages log(t/yr)=9.3 and 9.7, which appear in most of the subregions. The most recent SFR is found to vary greatly from subregion to subregion, with the general trend of being more intense in the innermost LMC, except for the tile next to the N11 complex. In the bar region, the SFR seems remarkably constant over the time interval from 8.4 to 9.7. The AMRs, instead, turn out to be remarkably similar across the LMC. The fields studied so far are fit extremely well by a single disk of inclination 26.2+-2.0 deg, position angle of the line of nodes 129.1+-13.0 deg, and distance modulus of 18.470+-0.006 mag (random errors only) up to the LMC centre.
The VISTA near infrared survey of the Magellanic System (VMC) will provide deep YJKs photometry reaching stars in the oldest turn-off point all over the Magellanic Clouds (MCs). As part of the preparation for the survey, we aim to access the accuracy
in the Star Formation History (SFH) that can be expected from VMC data, in particular for the LMC. To this aim, we first simulate VMC images containing not only the LMC stellar populations but also the foreground MW stars and background galaxies. We perform aperture photometry over these simulated images, access the expected levels of photometric errors and incompleteness, and apply the classical technique of SFH-recovery based on the reconstruction of colour-magnitude diagrams (CMD) via the minimization of a chi-squared-like statistics. We then evaluate the expected errors in the recovered star formation rate as a function of stellar age, SFR(t), starting from models with a known Age--Metallicity Relation (AMR). It turns out that, for a given sky area, the random errors for ages older than ~0.4 Gyr seem to be independent of the crowding. For a spatial resolution of ~0.1 sqdeg, the random errors in SFR(t) will be below 20% for this wide range of ages. On the other hand, due to the smaller stellar statistics for stars younger than ~0.4 Gyr, the outer LMC regions will require larger areas to achieve the same level of accuracy in the SFR(t). If we consider the AMR as unknown, the SFH-recovery algorithm is able to accurately recover the input AMR, at the price of an increase of random errors in the SFR(t) by a factor of about 2.5. Experiments of SFH-recovery performed for varying distance modulus and reddening indicate that the propagation of the errors in these parameters in the SFR(t) implies systematic errors below 30%.
