• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.76.2-76.2
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• 2010

We report the extended far-ultraviolet (FUV) halo of NGC 891 above the galactic plane. The FUV intensity distribution is well described by two exponential components, one with the scale height of ~0.34 kpc and the other of ~2.3 kpc. The extraplanar FUV halo is traceable up to > 5 kpc. The FUV halo is attributable to scattered-off starlight by extraplanar dust. Using Monte-Carlo radiative transfer simulations, the FUV intensity distribution along the minor axis is found to be well modeled with two dust comonents. Its implications are discussed.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.87-98
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• 2022

The Far-UltraViolet (FUV) imager onboard the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) spacecraft provides two-dimensional limb images of oxygen airglow in the nightside low-latitude ionosphere that are used to determine the oxygen ion density. As yet, no FUV limb imager has been used for climatological analyses of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles (EPBs). To examine the potential of ICON/FUV for this purpose, we statistically investigate small-scale (~180 km) fluctuations of oxygen ion density in its limb images. The seasonal-longitudinal variations of the fluctuation level reasonably conform to the EPB statistics in existing literature. To further validate the ICON/FUV data quality, we also inspect climatology of the ambient (unfiltered) nightside oxygen ion density. The ambient density exhibits (1) the well-known zonal wavenumber-4 signatures in the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) and (2) off-equatorial enhancement above the Caribbean, both of which agree with previous studies. Merits of ICON/FUV observations over other conventional data sets are discussed in this paper. Furthermore, we suggest possible directions of future work, e.g., synergy between ICON/FUV and the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.134.2-134.2
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• 2012

Discrete auroras, with unique shapes embedded in diffuse auroras, are generally associated with precipitating electrons that originate from the plasma sheet and are accelerated on the way as they travel to polar regions along the field lines. Two acceleration mechanisms have been proposed: quasi-static electric fields and dispersive Alfven waves, which are believed to yield monoenergetic peaks and broadband features in the particle spectra, respectively. Hence, it should be interesting to see how the two different mechanisms, through their characteristic spectra of the accelerated electrons, produce distinct auroral images and spectra, especially in the far ultraviolet (FUV) wavelengths as the long and short Lyman-Birge-Hopfield (LBH) bands exist as well as the strong absorption band of molecular oxygen in the FUV band. In fact, we have previously shown, using the simultaneous observations of precipitating electrons and the corresponding FUV spectra, that the discrete auroras associated with inverted-V events have a stronger relative intensity of the long LBH to the short LBH compared to diffuse auroras, especially when the peak energy is above a few keV. In this paper, we would like to focus on the differences in the FUV images and spectra between the two discrete auroras of the monoenergetic and broadband cases, again based on the study using the dataset of simultaneous observations of particles and FUV spectral images.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.48.2-48.2
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• 2019

Light from universe is absorbed, scattered, and re-released by interstellar dust before it reaches us. Therefore, accurate correction of the observed light requires not only spatial distribution of interstellar dust, but also information on absorption and scattering for each wavelength. Far-ultraviolet (FUV) light is mainly produced by bright, young O-type and some B-type stars, but it is also observed in interstellar space without these stars. Called FUV Galactic light (DGL), these lights are mostly known as starlight scattered by interstellar dust. With the recent release of GAIA DR2, not only accurate distance information of stars in our Galaxy, but also accurate three-dimensional distribution maps of interstellar dust of our Galaxy were produced. Based on this, we performed 3-dimensional Monte Carlo dust scattering radiative transfer simulations for FUV light to obtain dust scattered FUV images and compared them with the observed FUV image obtained by FIMS and GALEX. From this, we find the scattering properties of interstellar dust in our Galaxy and suggest the intensity of extragalactic background light. These results are expected to aid in the study of chemical composition, size distribution, shape, and alignment of interstellar dust in our Galaxy.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.70.1-70.1
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• 2010

We present the far-ultraviolet (FUV) emission line morphologies in the whole region of the supernova remnant G65.3+5.7 using the FIMS/SPEAR data. The morphologies of the C IV ${\lambda}{\lambda}1548$, 1551, $H2{\lambda}1608 $, He II ${\lambda}1640$, and O III] ${\lambda}{\lambda}1661$, 1666 lines appear to correlate clearly with the optical emission line images or the ROSAT X-ray (0.11-0.284 keV) image obtained in some of the previous studies. We found that a foreground dust cloud, resonant scattering, and incompleteness of radiative shocks have made the definite differences between the morphologies of the above FUV emission lines. We also present the FUV spectra and line intensities from a few sub-regions.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.99.2-99.2
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• 2012

We updated the far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectral images of the entire Vela supernova remnant (SNR) using newly processed FIMS/SPEAR data. In the present study, we compare the newly produced FUV images with the X-ray and $H{\alpha}$ images, and examine how the Vela SNR evolves and interacts with the ambient medium on a global scale. The comparison with X-ray images has revealed a FUV filamentary feature corresponding with the boundary of the northeast-southwest asymmetry of the X-ray shell. The relatively low O IV] ${\lambda}1404$ to O III] ${\lambda}{\lambda}1661$, 1666 ratio estimated on the FUV filament is compatible with the previous proposal that the observed asymmetry of the Vela SNR could be due to the ${\gamma}2$ Velorum stellar wind bubble (SWB). The southwest FUV features surrounding a faint extended X-ray region are characterized as the region where the Vela SNR is interacting slightly stronger with ambient mediums within the dim X-ray southwest section. From a comparison with the $H{\alpha}$ image, we identify a ring-like $H{\alpha}$ feature overlapped with an extended hot X-ray feature of similar size and two local peaks of C IV ${\lambda}{\lambda}1548$, 1551 emission. Their morphologies are consistent with the expected shape when the $H{\alpha}$ ring is in direct contact with the near or far side of the Vela SNR. We suggest that the B3V-type star HD 76161 found at the center of the $H{\alpha}$ ring would be the exciting source of the H II region.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.88.2-88.2
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• 2011

The far-ultraviolet (FUV) continuum and spectral images of C IV and H2 emission lines for the region of Orion-Eridanus Superbubble (OES) are hereby presented and compared with the maps obtained in other wavelengths. While the region shows complex structures, consisting of hot gases and cold dust, a close examination reveals that the FUV emission in this region can be understood reasonably as the result of their interactions. We confirm the origin of most diffuse FUV continuum to be starlight scattered by dust, but we also find that the ionized gas also contributes 50-70% of the total FUV intensity in the regions of H_alpha arcs. We note the bright diffuse FUV continuum in the eastern part of the northern dust-rich region, and attribute it to the bright early-type stars more abundant in this region than in the west as the amount of dust itself does not seem to be much different across 'arc A' that separates the two regions. In addition, two P Cygni-type stars are identified in this eastern region and their peculiar spectral profiles around the C IV emission line are anifested in the scattered diffuse spectrum. Besides this, the C IV emission is generally enhanced at the boundaries of the hot X-ray cavities where thin dust regions are located, confirming the thermal interface nature of the origin of this cooling emission line. The morphology of the H2 emission shows a general correlation with dust extinction features but its intensity peaks are rather located in thin dust areas, off the peak dust regions. Furthermore, H2 emission is seen to be weak in the arc A region though the arc passes through the center of the dust-rich area. Hence, the H2 emission and dust features, together with those of X-ray and ion lines emissions, show stratified structure of arc A quite well, again confirming its thermal interface nature.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.80.2-80.2
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• 2012

We firstly present the unified Far-UV continuum map of the Taurus-Auriga-Perseus (TPA) complex, one of the largest local associations of dark cloud located in (l, b)=([152,180], [-28, 0]), by merging both FIMS and GALEX. The FUV continuum map shows that dust extinction correlate well with the FUV around the complex. It says strong absorption in the dense Taurus cloud and Auriga cloud. Although the column density of Perseus and California cloud is similar to Taurus' and Auriga's, Perseus and California cloud do not show strong absorption in FUV because they are more distant than Taurus and Auriga cloud. We also present the dust scattering simulation based on Monte Carlo Radiative Transfer technique. Through the result of Monte-Carlo dust scattering simulation and comparing the result with FIMS-GALEX unified map we gain deeper understanding related to the spatial dust distribution of TPA region. As a preliminary result of the simulation we present the most probable front face, thickness, albedo, and asymmetry factor in this region, respectively. Through this work we can show a certain inclination of the spatial dust distribution. During this study we have developed the FUV dust scattering simulation code using Monte-Carlo method. We expect that it will be generally used to simulate dust scattering in the Galaxy.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.48.1-48.1
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• 2012

We present the ultraviolet (UV) color-color relation of early-type galaxies (ETGs) in the nearby universe (0.05 < z < 0.12) to investigate the properties of hot stellar populations responsible for the UV excess (UVX). The initial sample of ETGs is selected by the spectroscopic redshift and the morphology parameter from the SDSS DR 7, and then cross-matched with the GALEX far-UV (FUV) and near-UV (NUV) GR6 data. The cross-matched ETG sample is further classified by their emission line characteristics in the optical spectra into quiescent, star-forming, and active galactic nucleus categories. Contaminations from early-type spiral galaxies, mergers, and morphologically disturbed galaxies are removed by visual inspection. By drawing the FUV-NUV (as a measure of UV spectral shape) versus FUV-r (as a measure of UVX strength) diagram for the final sample of -3700 quiescent ETGs, we find that the "old and dead" ETGs consist of a well-defined sequence in UV colors, the "UV red sequence," so that the stronger UVX galaxies should have a harder UV spectral shape systematically. However, the observed UV spectral slope is too steep to be reproduced by the canonical stellar population models in which the UV flux is mainly controlled by age or metallicity parameters. Moreover, 2 mag of color spreads both in FUV-NUV and FUV-r appear to be ubiquitous among any subsets in distance or luminosity. This implies that the UVX in ETGs could be driven by yet another parameter which might be even more influential than age or metallicity.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.73.2-73.2
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• 2012

The far ultraviolet (FUV) wavelength (900-1750A) range includes a wealth of important astrophysical information related to the cooling of hot gas, fluorescent emission from H2 molecules, and starlight scattered off dust particles. Among these, we would like to focus on the scattered emission of the central star by dust with the example of the FUV halo surrounding ${\alpha}$ Vir (Spica). While scattering properties of dust have been studied with the GALEX data, the improved dataset of STSAT-1 revealed many detailed structures of this interesting region. For example, the FUV continuum map obtained from the STSAT-1 observations shows enhanced emission in the southern part of the Spica halo region, where the dust level is also high. In fact, the FUV continuum intensity is seen to have a good correlation with the IRAS 100${\mu}m$ emission data. It is also seen that the scattered spectrum is softer than the original one emitted by the central star, which is attributed to the increase in the dust-scattering albedo with wavelength. We have developed a Monte Carlo code that simulates dust scattering of light including multiple encounters. The code is applied to the present Spica halo region to obtain the scattering properties such as the albedo and the phase function asymmetry factor.