• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.203-206
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• 2015

The masses of supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGN) can be derived spectroscopically via virial mass estimators based on selected broad optical/ultraviolet emission lines. These estimates commonly use the line width as a proxy for the gas speed and the monochromatic continuum luminosity, λL_λ, as a proxy for the radius of the broad line region. However, if the size of the broad line region scales with the bolometric AGN luminosity rather than λL_λ, mass estimates based on different emission lines will show a systematic discrepancy which is a function of the color of the AGN continuum. This has actually been observed in mass estimates based on Hα/Hβ and C_IV lines, indicating that AGN broad line regions indeed scale with bolometric luminosity. Given that this effect seems to have been overlooked as yet, currently used single-epoch mass estimates are likely to be biased.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.761-763
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• 2015

Colors have been derived from the observed optical spectrum of Mars and Jupiter. It is known that the planets and the Moon emit reflected sunlight and thus their spectra are similar to the spectrum of solar radiation. The question was then why is the color of Mars different from that of other planets, i.e. red, although it would share the same spectrum of reflected sunlight. Can one derive color from the spectrum? Therefore, we observed the optical spectra of the scattered sunlight in day time for the Moon and Mars using a 1-D array spectrograph on the 12-inch reflecting telescope in the Korea Science Academy of KAIST in Busan, Korea. We adopted the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) in 1931 of three spectral sensitivity peaks for the human eye in short, medium and long wavelengths in visible light. The observed spectra were imposed on CIE sensitivities and the color detected by the human eye was derived. The Mars spectrum represents red color and the Moon white. It is a similar color to that which a human would see. This result means that color is easily derived from astronomical spectra. The appearance of the planets surface can be determined for Mars, which is the result of iron oxide.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.203-208
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• 2007

We report the distance modulus of nearby dwarf elliptical galaxy NGC 147 estimated from the Tip of Red-giant Branch (TRGB) method applying to the color-magnitude diagrams and luminosity functions in the near-infrared JHK bands. Apparent magnitudes of TRGBs in each band are obtained by applying Savitzky-Golay filter to the luminosity functions, and the theoretical absolute magnitudes are estimated from Yonsei-Yale isochrones. The derived values of distance modulus to NGC 147 are $(m-M)=23.69{\pm}0.12,\;23.78{\pm}0.17,\;and\;23.85{\pm}0.22\;for\;J,\;H,\;and\;K$ bands, respectively. Distance modulus in bolometric magnitude is also derived as $(m-M)=23.87{\pm}0.11$. We compare the derived values of the TRGB distance modulus to NGC 147 in the near-infrared bands with the previous results in other bands.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.249-254
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• 2008

We report the distance modulus of nearby dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822 estimated from the so-called Tip of Red-giant Branch (TRGB) method. To detect the apparent magnitudes of the TRGB we use the color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) and luminosity functions (LFs) in the near-infrared JHK bands. Foreground stars, main-sequence stars, and supergiant stars have been classified on the (g - K, g) plane and removed on the near-infrared CMDs, from which only RGB and AGB stars are remained on the CMDs and LFs. By applying the Savitzky-Golay filter to the obtained LFs and detecting the peak in the second derivative of the observed LFs, we determined the apparent magnitudes of the TRGB. Theoretical absolute magnitudes of the TRGB are estimated from Yonsei-Yale isochrones with the age of 12Gyr and the metallicity range of -2.0 <[Fe/H]< -0.5. The derived values of distance modulus to NGC 6822 are (m - M) = $23.35{\pm}0.26$, $23.20{\pm}0.42$, and $23.27{\pm}0.50$ for J, H, and K bands, respectively. Distance modulus in bolometric magnitude is also derived as (m - M) = $23.41{\pm}0.17$. We compare the derived values of the TRGB distance modulus to NGC 6822 in the near-infrared bands with the previous results in other bands.