Krishali Shah, BS (Honours) in Physics, Class of 2025

Supervisor: Professor Samyaday Choudhury, School of Arts and Sciences

Thesis Brief

The Magellanic Bridge, a tidal structure between the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, presents a unique low-metallicity and low gas density environment to study recent star formation. This study focuses on identifying and analysing OB-type stars in the Bridge using Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs). We utilise ultraviolet data from UVIT and optical photometry from Gaia, constructing Colour–Magnitude Diagrams (CMDs) to isolate young, hot stellar populations. Proper motion and parallax cuts were applied to remove foreground contaminants. SED fitting was performed using VOSA, incorporating TLUSTY models and the Bayesian Extinction and Stellar Tool (BEAST) was studied extensively to generate improved SEDs and extract more stellar and extinction parameters in future. The results confirm the presence of young OB stars across the Bridge, indicating active or recent star formation in this dynamically perturbed region. This work highlights the importance of multi-wavelength data and robust SED modelling in studying stellar populations in complex interstellar environments.