Reddening map of the Large Magellanic Cloud bar region

Abstract

E(V$-$I) reddening values for 1123 locations in the bar region of the Large Magellanic Cloud are presented. V, I photometry of red clump stars identified in the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment II catalogue of LMC were used to estimate reddening. E(V$-$I) values were estimated as the difference between observed and the characteristic values of (V$-$I) for the red clump population in a given region. It is found that most of the regions in the bar have reddening values less than 0.1 mag with only a few locations having values more than 0.2 mag. Eastern side of the bar is found to be more reddened when compared to the western side, with similar and relatively small values for differential reddening as in most parts of the bar. Increased reddening in the eastern end of the bar could be caused by a small fraction of the H I clouds in the line of sight. A high density of HI clouds located in the eastern end of the bar should have caused very high reddening in these regions, whereas only a relatively small increase in the reddening is estimated. This indicates that most of the H I clouds in this direction are likely to be located behind the bar.