Aims: To investigate a possible dependence between age and metallicity in the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) from a study of small open star clusters, using Str{o}mgren photometry. Our goal is to trace evidence of an age metallicity relation (AMR) and corre
late it with the mutual interactions of the two MCs. Our aim is also to correlate the AMR with the spatial distribution of the clusters. In the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the majority of the selected clusters are young (up to 1 Gyr) and our aim is to search for an AMR at this epoch which has not been much studied. Methods: We report on results for 15 LMC and 8 Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) clusters, scattered all over the area of these galaxies, to cover a wide spatial distribution and metallicity range. The selected LMC clusters were observed with the 1.54m Danish Telescope in Chile, using the Danish Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (DFOSC) with a single 2kx2k CCD, whereas the SMC clusters were observed with the ESO 3.6m Telescope also in Chile with the ESO Faint Object Spectrograph and Camera (EFOSC). The obtained frames were analysed with the conventional DAOPHOT and IRAF software. We used Str{o}mgren filters in order to achieve reliable metallicities from photometry. Isochrone fitting was used in order to determine the ages and metallicities. Results: The AMR for the LMC displays a metallicity gradient, with higher metallicities for the younger ages. The AMR for LMC-SMC star clusters shows a possible jump in metallicity and a considerable increase at about 6x10^8 yr. It is possible that this is connected to the latest LMC-SMC interaction. The AMR for the LMC also displays a metallicity gradient with distance from the centre. The metallicities in SMC are lower, as expected for a metal poor host galaxy.
The main goal of our project is to investigate the spatial distribution of different stellar populations in the Magellanic Clouds. The results from modelling the Magellanic Clouds can be useful, among others, for simulations during the Gaia mission p
reparation. Isodensity contour maps have been used in order to trace the morphology of the different stellar populations and estimate the size of these structures. Moreover, star density maps are constructed through star counts and projected radial density profiles are obtained. Fitting exponential disk and King law curves to the spatial distribution allows us to derive the structural parameters that describe these profiles. The morphological structure and spatial distributions of various stellar components in the Magellanic Clouds (young and intermediate age stars, carbon stars) along with the overall spatial distribution in both Clouds are provided.
