Ultraviolet spectral classification of O and B stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud

In this extension of our previous ultraviolet classification study of Small Magellanic Cloud stars, we construct an ultraviolet classification system for stars of the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy with a metallicity intermediate to those of the Milky Way and the SMC. Employing the same method as was used for the SMC, we compile a set of LMC spectra drawn from the International Ultraviolet Explorer archives and use these spectra to construct a framework of reliable UV spectral classification criteria. We classify 143 LMC IUE spectra and identify the LMC standard stars that define our UV classification system. Representative spectra are presented to illustrate the patterns that the UV spectral classification features exhibit. The LMC and SMC UV classification systems are intended to be applicable to UV spectra of stars in external galaxies for which no MK standards have been defined. Such UV spectra are expected to be collected from spaceborne instruments such as the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph, aboard the Hubble Space Telescope.