OB associations in IC 1613

Determining the parameters of massive stars is crucial to understand many processes in galaxies and the Universe, since these objects are important sources of ionization, chemical enrichment and momentum. 10m class telescopes enable us to perform detailed quantitative spectroscopic analyses of massive stars in other galaxies, sampling areas of different metallicity. Relating the stars to their environment is crucial to understand the physical processes ruling their formation and evolution.

In preparation for the new instrumentation planned for the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC), our goal is to build a list of massive star candidates in the metal-poor irregular galaxy IC 1613. The catalogue must have very high astrometric accuracy, suitable for the current generation of multi-object spectrographs. A census of OB associations in this galaxy is also needed, to provide important additional information about the age and environment of the candidate OB stars.