Paper:	Giant Molecular Clouds in the Magellanic Clouds
Volume:	344, The Cool Universe: Observing Cosmic Dawn
Page:	155
Authors:	Fukui, Y.
Abstract:	It is widely accepted that almost all giant molecular clouds are actively forming massive stars as evidenced by observations in the solar vicinity. However, new millimeter CO observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) have revealed that nearly 30% of the giant molecular clouds in the LMC show no signs of massive star formation, apparently remaining completely starless. This suggests that the timescale of star formation is considerably longer in the LMC than in the Milky Way. We propose that the lower heavy element abundance in the LMC is the primary cause of this retarded star formation via a higher degree of ionization and a lower degree of molecular cooling.

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