We present results based on YJK _ { s } photometry of star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud ( LMC ) , distributed throughout the central part of the galaxy ’ s bar and the 30 Doradus region .
We analysed the field-star decontaminated colour–magnitude diagrams of 313 clusters to estimate their reddening values and ages .
The clusters are affected by a mean reddening of E ( B - V ) \in [ 0.2 , 0.3 ] mag , where the average internal LMC reddening amounts to \sim 0.1–0.2 mag .
The region covering 30 Doradus includes clusters with reddening values in excess of E ( B - V ) = 0.4 mag .
Our cluster sample spans the age range 7.0 \leq \log ( t yr ^ { -1 } ) < 9.0 , represents an increase of 30 per cent in terms of the number of clusters with robust age estimates and comprises a statistically complete sample in the LMC regions of interest here .
The resulting cluster frequencies suggest that the outermost regions of the LMC bar first experienced enhanced cluster formation – \log ( t yr ^ { -1 } ) \in [ 8.5 , 9.0 ] – before the activity proceeded , although in a patchy manner , to the innermost regions , for \log ( t yr ^ { -1 } ) < 7.7 .
Cluster frequencies in the 30 Doradus region show that the area is dominated by very recent cluster formation .
The derived star-formation frequencies suggest that the cluster and field-star populations do not seem to have fully evolved as fully coupled systems during the last \sim 100 Myr .