FUSE Observations of O VI Absorption in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We have embarked on a project to characterize the global properties of OVI absorption toward stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud observed with FUSE. OVI ISM absorption in LMC stellar spectra shows a wide range of appearances, depending on the stellar spectral type and luminosity class as well as the presence or absence of galactic or intermediate velocity absorption. We have performed a careful spectral morphology classification of the sight lines, finding 57 useful targets for measuring OVI. We also identified at least nine sight lines for which upper limits can be determined. By grouping the sight lines based on their spatial morphological characteristics (e.g. field sight lines versus targets within emission structures of various kinds), we find a) evidence for a patchy but generally distributed component of OVI, and b) significant evidence for excess OVI from nebular sub-structures associated with active star formation and superbubbles.