2021AJ....161..206A

Young massive clusters and super star clusters (SSCs) represent an extreme mode of star formation. Far-infrared imaging of the Magellanic Clouds has identified one potential embedded SSC, HSO BMHERICC J72.971176-69.391112 (H72.97-69.39 in short), in the southwest outskirts of the Large Magellanic Cloud. We present Gemini Flamingos 2 and GSAOI near-infrared imaging of a 3' x 3' region around H72.97-69.39 in order to characterize the stellar content of the cluster. The stellar content is probed down to 1.5 M_☉. We find substantial dust extinction across the cluster region, extending up to A_K of 3. Deeply embedded stars are associated with ALMA-detected molecular gas suggesting that star formation is ongoing. The high spatial resolution of the GSAOI data allows identification of the central massive object associated with the ¹³CO ALMA observations and detection of fainter low-mass stars around the H30α ALMA source. The morphology of the molecular gas and the nebulosity from adjacent star formation suggest they have interacted covering a region of several parsecs. The total stellar content in the cluster is estimated from the intermediate- and high-mass stellar content to be at least 10,000 M_☉, less than R136 with up to 100,000 M_☉ within 4.7 pc radius, but places it in the regime of an SSC. Based on the extinction determination of individual stars we estimate a molecular gas mass in the vicinity of H72.97-69.39 of 6600 M_☉, suggesting more star formation can be expected.