AUTOMATED IDENTIFICATION OF YOUNG ASSOCIATIONS IN THE INTER-MAGELLANIC CLOUD REGION

An automated technique is used to identify 78 associations in the region between the Magellanic Clouds with the aim of providing a useful target list for follow-up studies. These associations are poorly populated. They have, on average, 80 times less stars than the associations in the central parts of the SMC. Their average diameter is however comparable to the known associations in the LMC and SMC. A dependence between the stellar surface density of the associations and the H I column density in their direction, is seen. Properties of these associations show little correlation with their spatial location, thus confirming the coeval nature of the region.