• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.175-177
• /
• 2017

In order to reveal physical conditions of molecular gas in active galaxies (active galaxies mean both starbursts and AGNs in this paper), we carried out systematic observations (R = 19 ~ 120) of CO fundamental band at $4.7{\mu}m$ in absorption with AKARI. We also made follow-up CO absorption observations at higher spectral resolution (R = 5000 ~ 1000) with Subaru. Recently, Herschel made extensive observations of highly-excited CO lines in emission in the far-infrared. The two data sets (absorption and emission) sometimes provide us with apparently inconsistent results. One case is starburst galaxies: Subaru observations showed low temperature of molecular gas toward the starburst NGC 253, while Herschel detected highly excited CO lines in the starburst. This suggests that warm molecular clouds are more deeply embedded than newly formed star clusters. The other case is obscured AGNs; Herschel detected highly excited CO lines in emission in nearby AGNs, while AKARI and Subaru observations showed CO absorption only in some of the obscured AGNs. This could reflect the difference of nature of molecular tori in these AGNs. We propose the combination of the absorption and emission observations as an effective tool to reveal geometry of warm molecular clouds in active galaxies.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.305-307
• /
• 2017

We have identified 22 quasars in the AKARI far-infrared all-sky Bright Source Catalogue, using a matching radius of < 10", and excluding matches which are close to foreground extended sources or cirrus. We have confirmed a relation between quasar optical luminosity and far-infrared luminosity which was found in an earlier study. In addition, we have found that the 11 sources which are at redshift z > 1 are magnified with respect to the predicted far-infrared luminosity, and consider this may be due to gravitational lensing. If confirmed, this would provide a new way to identify lenses; if not, we may have identified an interesting new population of extreme starbursting quasars.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.87-91
• /
• 2017

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are considered to be carriers of the unidentified infrared bands, which are ubiquitously observed in the Universe. PAHs are mainly formed around evolved carbon-rich stars and injected into interstellar space. Planetary nebulae (PNe), a late stage of low- and intermediate stellar mass evolution, are suitable objects to investigate the formation and evolution of PAHs. The shortest PAH feature is located in $3.3{\mu}m$, which is important to examine the excitation and size distribution of PAHs. While the number of samples had been limited before, the high sensitivity of AKARI /IRC has drastically increased the number of samples. We obtained the $2-5{\mu}m$ spectra of Galactic PNe with AKARI /IRC and compiled a near-infrared spectral catalog, containing 73 PNe. We investigate the detection rate and the evolution of the PAH features. The characteristics of the catalog are illustrated and the origin of the evolution of the PAH features is discussed.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.50.3-51
• /
• 2016

Recent analysis on the thermophysical property of asteroids revealed that their thermal inertia decrease with their sizes at least for main belt asteroids. However, little is known about that of comet-like bodies. In this work we utilized a simple thermophysical model (TPM) to calculate the thermal inertia of a bare nucleus of the comet P/2006 HR30 (Siding Spring) and an asteroid in comet-like orbit 107P/(4015) Wilson-Harrington from AKARI observation data. From five spectroscopic observations of the targets, we find out that the former has thermal inertia of around $2,000J\;m^{-2}K^{-1}s^{-1/2}$ (using pV = 0.055) and the latter has about $1,000-2000J\;m^{-2}K^{-1}s^{-1/2}$ (using pV = 0.055 and 0.043, respectively). These are high enough for both of them to deposit water ice at few centimeters depth, and hence it is difficult to say they are cometary based on the results of this study. These values, however, dependent significantly on the errors of observation and the uncertainties of the input parameters, as well as other conditions which are ignored in simple TPM approach, such as shape model and surface roughness. Further detailed analyses on these cometary bodies will shed light on our understanding of the detailed surfacial characteristics of them.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.49.3-50
• /
• 2017

There have been recent studies which revealed a tendency that thermal inertia decreases with the size of asteroidal bodies, and suggestions that thermal inertias of cometary bodies should be much smaller than those asteroidal counterparts, regardless of comets' nuclear sizes, which hints a way to differentiate cometary candidates from asteroids using thermal inertia information. We thus selected two comet-like objects from AKARI satellite of JAXA, namely, 107P/ (4015) Wilson-Harrington and P/2006 HR30 (Siding Spring), and applied simple thermophysical model to test the idea. Both targets did not show any comet-like activity during the observations. From the model, we found Wilson-Harrington to have size of 3.7-4.4 km, geometric albedo 0.040-0.055 and thermal inertia of 100-250 J m-2 K-1 s-0.5, which coincide with previous works, and HR30 to have size of 24-27 km, geomoetric albedo of 0.035-0.045 with thermal inertia of 250-1000 J m-2 K-1 s-0.5. HR30 is found to have the rotation pole near the ecliptic plane (the latitude between -20 and +60 deg). Based on the results, we conjecture that comet-like objects are not clearly distinguishable from asteroidal counterpart using thermal inertia.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.74.2-74.2
• /
• 2010

We present a multi-wavelength study of a supercluster in the NEP region at z=0.087, using AKARI (Infrared space telescope) NEP-Wide (5.8 deg2) survey which has obtained an unique IR imaging dataset with contiguous wavelength coverage from 2 to $24{\mu}m$, overcoming the Spitzer limitation of imaging capability at $10-20{\mu}m$. The NEP-Wide survey is also covered in other wavelength such as X-ray, Radio, GALEX UV in the archive, optical (BRI from Maidanak 1.5m and CFHT's MegaPrime), and NIR imaging data (JH from KPNO 2.1m), with nearly 1900 optical spectra, mostly obtained by our group using MMT/Hectospec and WIYN/Hydra. Armed with the multiwavelength datasets, we investigate the connection between IR properties of galaxies and their environments as a tool to understand the evolution of galaxies in a supercluster environment. Specific attention will be given to MIR emission which can trace star formation activities and passive phases right after post-starbursts, and its relation to other wavelength data.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.52.1-52.1
• /
• 2010

The Japanese infrared (IR) space mission AKARI monitored the brightness in the fields very close to the north ecliptic pole (NEP) with nine wavebands in Infrared Camera (IRC), which cover the wavelength range from 2 to $24{\mu}m$. We reduced the NEP monitor observations and examined the smoothness of the sky background brightness. Our analysis shows that the background brightness is smooth over a frame of about $10'\times10'$ within about 0.1% deviation in mid-IR. Because the zodiacal light (ZL) and emission (ZE) dominate the diffuse sky brightness in the near- and mid-IR wavelengths, the background brightness varies with season through a year. We tried sinusoidal fittings to the observed NEP background brightness. The fitting analysis shows that the sine function is successful in describing the seasonal variation of the ZL and ZE within 2% deviations from the observed brightness, especially for the 15, 18, and $24{\mu}m$ bands, within 0.3%. These results will provide limits and caveats for the studies of the cosmic infrared background radiation.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.60.1-60.1
• /
• 2018

We investigate the $SFR-M_{\star}$ relation of the infrared luminous galaxies selected in either $11{\mu}m$ and $15{\mu}m$ from the $5.6deg^2$ of the AKARI NEP-Wide field. From the constructed multi-wavelength catalog spanning $0.3{\mu}m$ to $24{\mu}m$, we select 3,408 S11 > $50{\mu}Jy$ galaxies and 1,896 L15 > $20{\mu}Jy$ galaxies which corresponds to $L_{IR}{\sim}10^{11}L_{\odot}$ at z ~ 0.5 and 0.7 respectively. Photometric redshifts of the selected galaxies were derived using LePHARE and Coleman Extended templates. ~98% S11 selected galaxies are galaxies with (median redshift) ~ 0.4, and ~96% L15 selected galaxies are galaxies with ~ 0.6. Star formation rates and stellar mass of these galaxies were calculated using MAGPHYS which derives physical parameters with SED fitting. In the SFR-$M_{\star}$ diagram, $11{\mu}m/15{\mu}m$ selected galaxies are located in the main sequence of star-forming galaxies at z ~ 1.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.74.1-74.1
• /
• 2011

To probe the connection between starburst and AGN activity, we investigate the relation between the 3.3 micron~PAH emission and AGN properties based on the new AKARI observations and the data collected from the literature. Using a sample of low-z Type I AGN, we measure the global 3.3 micron PAH luminosity from the AKARI slit-less spectroscopy. The 3.3 ${\backslash}$micron~PAH emissions are detected for 7 out of 26 target galaxies, but we find no strong correlation between the 3.3 ${\backslash}$micron~PAH emission and AGN luminosity, suggesting that global star formation may not be tightlyrelated with AGN activity. In contrast the to global star formation, the nuclear 3.3 micron~PAH emission luminosity, which are measured from ground-based long slit spectroscopy with a narrow slit, correlates with AGN luminosity. These results imply that starburst and AGN activity are directly connected at the nuclear region.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.55.1-55.1
• /
• 2011

Luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs; $L_{IR}$ > ${10^{11}}_{Lsun}$) are the most powerful objects in the local Universe. Previous work suggested that dust re-processing of starburst and/or active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity, triggered by galaxy interactions, is responsible for their enormous infrared emission. To understand the nature of LIRGs, it is essential to determine their spectral types. Optical spectral types of 115 ultraluminous infrared galaxies in the southern sky are presented using CTIO observations. The AGN fraction is on average 50% and increases with infrared luminosity. Near-infrared spectral types of 36 LIRGs are also presented based on AKARI observations. In the sample, 12 optically elusive buried AGNs are found. To investigate the evolutionary sequence of LIRGs, star formation histories of ~6000 LIRGs in the SDSS and IRAS/AKARI matched sample are derived by comparing observed optical spectra and stellar population models. AGN-dominated LIRGs are currently massive relative to starburst-dominated LIRGs, which originates from an enhancement of star formation at intermediate-ages. For ~1100 early-type LIRGs, optical and NIR fundamental planes (FPs) are constructed. The FP of LIRGs is significantly different from that of normal early-type galaxies, but the difference is minimized in low luminous and AGN-like LIRGs. These findings support that the importance of AGN is growing as infrared luminosity increases and that LIRGs follow at least in the high mass regime the standard evolutionary scenario: starburst LIRGs evolve into AGN LIRGs and finally into normal early-type galaxies.