@article{SundeGrijsSubramanianetal.2017, author = {Sun, Ning-Chen and de Grijs, Richard and Subramanian, Smitha and Cioni, Maria-Rosa L. and Rubele, Stefano and Bekki, Kenji and Ivanov, Valentin D. and Piatti, Andr{\´e}s E. and Ripepi, Vincenzo}, title = {The VMC Survey. XXII. Hierarchical star formation in the 30 Doradus-N158-N159-N160 star-forming complex}, series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, volume = {835}, journal = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, number = {2}, publisher = {Institute of Physics Publ.}, address = {Bristol}, issn = {0004-637X}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/835/2/171}, pages = {10}, year = {2017}, abstract = {We study the hierarchical stellar structures in a similar to 1.5 deg(2) area covering the 30. Doradus-N158-N159-N160 starforming complex with the VISTA Survey of. Magellanic Clouds. Based on the young upper main-sequence stars, we find that the surface densities cover a wide range of values, from log(Sigma.pc(2))less than or similar to -2.0 to log(Sigma. pc(2)) greater than or similar to 0.0. Their distributions are highly non-uniform, showing groups that frequently have subgroups inside. The sizes of the stellar groups do not exhibit characteristic values, and range continuously from several parsecs to more than 100. pc; the cumulative size distribution can be well described by a single power law, with the power-law index indicating a projected fractal dimension D-2 = 1.6 +/- 0.3. We suggest that the phenomena revealed here support a scenario of hierarchical star formation. Comparisons with other star-forming regions and galaxies are also discussed.}, language = {en} }