• Title/Summary/Keyword: History of astronomy

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10-Year History and Prospect of the Korean VLBI Network (한국우주전파관측망의 10년 역사와 전망)

  • Byun, Do-Young
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.44 no.2
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    • pp.50.4-50.4
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    • 2019
  • 2001년부터 총 230억원의 건설 예산을 투입한 한국우주전파관측망(KVN) 건설 프로젝트는 2008년 KVN을 구성하는 3개의 전파 망원경 건설을 마무리 하였고, 2009년 22GHz와 43GHz에서 세 기선의 프린지 검출에 성공하였다. 국내 최초 VLBI 관측망인 KVN은 2009년 프린지 검출로 VLBI의 첫 걸음을 시작한 이 후 올해로 VLBI 관측 역사의 10년에 이르렀다. 2009년부터 첫 4년간의 시험 관측을 거쳐 2013년 세계 최초로 22,43,86,129GHz 4개 주파수 동시 관측을 지원하는 본격적인 VLBI 관측 운영을 시작하였다. 지난 10년간의 KVN을 활용한 연구 성과를 통해 KVN 방식의 동시 다주파수 관측 시스템은 전 세계적으로 mm-VLBI의 국제 표준으로 인정받고 있다. 본 발표는 지난 10년간의 KVN의 운영 과정과 이를 통해 이룬 주요 연구 성과를 되돌아보고 앞으로의 전망에 대해 소개한다.

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AN ACCOUNT OF INDIAN ASTRONOMICAL HERITAGE FROM THE 5th CE to 12th CE

  • CHATTERJEE, SOMENATH
    • Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.30 no.2
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    • pp.705-707
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    • 2015
  • Astronomical observation is the beginning of scientific attitudes in the history of mankind. According to Indian tradition, there existed 18 early astronomical texts (siddhantas) composed by Surya, Pitamaha and many others. Varahamihira compiled five astronomical texts in a book named panchasiddhantika, which is now the link between early and later siddhantas. Indian scholars had no practice of writing their own names in their works, so, it is very difficult to identify them. Aryabhata is the first name noticed, in the book Aryabhatiya. After this point most astronomers and astro-writers wrote their names in their works. In this paper I have tried to analyze the works of astronomers like Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Brahmagupta, Bhaskara I, Vateswara, Sripati and Bhaskaracharya in a modern context and to obtain an account of Indian astronomical knowledge. Aryabhata is the first Indian astronomer who stated that the rising and setting of the Sun, the Moon and other heavenly bodies was due to the relative motion of the Earth caused by the rotation of the Earth about its own axis. He also estabished the 'yuga' theory (one Mahayuga = 432000 years). Varahamihira compiled panchasiddhantika and wrote Brihatsamhita. Brahmagupta is the most distinguished astronomer known to us. His two major works are i) Brahmasphutasiddhanta and ii) Khandkhadaka. Bhaskara I was the follower of Aryabhata. His three known works are Mahabhaskariya, Laghubhaskariya and Aryabhatiyabhasya. Vateswara follows Aryapaksha and Saurapaksha. His master work is Vateswarasiddhanta. Sripati, in his siddhantasekhara, gives the rules for determining the Moon's second inequality. Bhaskara II wrote the most comprehensive astronomical work in Indian astronomy. The result of these works is the account of the Indian astronomical heritage. These works are written in the Sanskrit language. A very few of these manuscripts have been translated in English but many are yet to be done. So, it is necessary to translate these astronomical texts into English with proper commentary for modern scholars. This paper will be helpful in this work.

Satellites of Isolated Early-type Galaxies and the Missing Satellite Galaxy Problem

  • Park, Changbom;Hwang, Ho Seong;Park, Hyunbae;Lee, Jong Chul
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.42 no.2
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    • pp.39.1-39.1
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    • 2017
  • The standard hierarchical galaxy formation scenario in the popular LCDM cosmogony has been very successful in explaining the large-scale distribution of galaxies. However, one of the failures of the theory is that it predicts too many satellite galaxies associated with massive galaxies compared to observations, which is called the missing satellite galaxy problem. Isolated groups of galaxies hosted by passively evolving massive early-type galaxies are ideal laboratories for finding the missing physics in the current theory. We discover through a deep spectroscopic survey of galactic satellite systems that bright isolated early-type galaxies have almost no satellite galaxies fainter than the r-band absolute magnitude of about Mr=-14. The cutoff is at somewhat brighter magnitude of about Mr=-15 when only early-type satellites are used. Such a cutoff is not observed in the luminosity function of galaxies in the field. Physical properties of the observed satellites depend sensitively on the host-centric distance. All these are strong evidence that galactic satellites can become invisible due to astrophysics of satellite-host galaxy interaction. A recent state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulation of galaxy formation does not reproduce such a cutoff in the satellite galaxy luminosity function. But the past history of the simulated satellites shows that many satellite galaxies near or somewhat fainter than the cutoff magnitude have recently become extinct through fatal encounters with the host or other satellite galaxies. Our observation indicates that the missing satellite galaxy problem could be mitigated if the astrophysics of galaxy interaction is more elaborated in the theory.

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OLOR-MAGNITUDE RELATIONS OF EARLY-TYPE DWARF GALAXIES IN THE VIRGO CLUSTER: AN ULTRAVIOLET PERSPECTIVE

  • Kim, Suk;Rey, Soo-Chang;Lisker, Thorsten;Sohn, Sangmo Tony
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.38.2-38.2
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    • 2010
  • We present ultraviolet (UV) color-magnitude relations (CMRs) of early-type dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster, based on Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) UV and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) optical imaging data. We find that dwarf lenticular galaxies (dS0s), including peculiar dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs) with disk substructures and blue centers, show a surprisingly distinct and tight locus separated from that of ordinary dEs, which is not clearly seen in previous CMRs. The dS0s in UV CMRs follow a steeper sequence than dEs and show bluer UV-optical color at a given magnitude. We also find that the UV CMRs of dEs in the outer cluster region are slightly steeper than that of their counterparts in the inner region, due to the existence of faint, blue dEs in the outer region. We explore the observed CMRs with population models of a luminosity-dependent delayed exponential star formation history. We confirm that the feature of delayed star formation of early-type dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster is strongly correlated with their morphology and environment. The observed CMR of dS0s is well matched by models with relatively long delayed star formation. Our results suggest that dS0s are most likely transitional objects at the stage of subsequent transformation of late-type progenitors to ordinary red dEs in the cluster environment, In any case, UV photometry provides a powerful tool to disentangle the diverse subpopulations of early-type dwarf galaxies and uncover their evolutionary histories.

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Analysis of Solar and Lunar Motions in the Seonmyeong Calendar

  • Lee, Ki-Won
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.36 no.2
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    • pp.87-96
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    • 2019
  • We investigate solar and lunar motions in the Seonmyeong (SM) calendar that was compiled by Xu, Ang of the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-907) in China and used for 71 years from 822 to 892. This calendar was also used in Korea during the Goryeo dynasty (A.D. 918-1392) and in Japan for 823 years from 862 to 1684, the longest time among the three countries. Referring to historical documents of China, Korea, and Japan, we analyze the calendrical methods of calculating the daily apparent movements of the Sun and Moon in the SM calendar, which were considered their unequal motions, and compare the movements with the results of modern calculations for three periods in the Goryeo dynasty: 919, 1155, and 1392 years (i.e., the beginning, middle, and ending of the dynasty, respectively). We find that a quadratic equation was employed to obtain the daily movement of the Sun using physical quantities on the instant of each solar term, which was tabulated in its calendar book such as the Goryeosa (History of the Goryeo Dynasty). For quantitative analysis, we compute the mean absolute difference (MAD) of the daily apparent movement between the SM calendar and modern calculations and obtain 0.33, 0.30, and 0.31 arcmin for the periods of 919, 1155, and 1392 years, respectively. Meanwhile, we find relatively large MAD values in the daily movement of the Moon: 0.217, 0.284, and 0.240 degrees for each corresponding year. An interesting point is that the MAD value in the lunar motion shows the maximum in 1155 years, and is the minimum in the solar motion. In conclusion, we believe that this study will facilitate in the understanding of the SM calendar further, particularly in the calendrical methods of calculating sunrise, sunset, and eclipse times.

STUDY ON THE RESTORATION MODEL OF JEONGNAM-ILGU, CREATED DURING THE REIGN OF KING SEJONG OF THE JOSEON DYNASTY (조선 세종대에 창제된 정남일구 복원모델 연구)

  • JIWON PARK;BYEONG-HEE MIHN;SANG HYUK KIM;YONG-GI KIM
    • Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.38 no.1
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    • pp.1-12
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    • 2023
  • Numerous Sundials were fabricated during the reign of King Sejong of the Joseon Dynasty. One among them is Jeongnam-Ilgu (the Fixing-South Sundial), where the time can be measured after setting up the suitable meridian line without a compass. We reconstructed the new Jeongnam-Ilgu model based on the records of 'Description of Making the Royal Observatory Ganui (簡儀臺記)' in the Veritable Record of King Sejong. Jeongnam-Ilgu has a summer solstice half-ring under a horizontal ring which is fixed to two pillars in the north and south, and in which a declination ring rotates around the polar axis. In our model, the polar axis matches the altitude of Hanyang (that is Seoul). There are two merits if the model is designed to install the polar axis in the way that enters both the north and south poles and rotates in them: One is that it is possible to fix the polar axis to the declination ring together with the cross-strut. The other is that a twig for hanging weights can be protruded on the North Pole. The declination ring is supposed to be 178 mm in diameter and is carved on the scale of the celestial-circumference degrees on the ring's surface, where a degree scale can be divided into four equal parts through the diagonal lines. In addition, the time's graduation that is drawn on the summer solstice half-ring makes it possible to measure the daytime throughout the year. An observational property of Jeongnam-Ilgu is that a solar image can be obtained using a pin-hole. The position cast by the solar image between hour circles makes a time measurement. We hope our study will contribute to the restoration of Jeongnam-Ilgu.

Statistical Analysis on the trapping boundary of outer radiation belt during geosynchronous electron flux dropout : THEMIS observation

  • Hwang, Jung-A;Lee, Dae-Young;Kim, Kyung-Chan;Choi, Eun-Jin;Shin, Dae-Kyu;Kim, Jin-Hee;Cho, Jung-Hee
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.37 no.1
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    • pp.90.2-90.2
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    • 2012
  • Geosynchronous electron flux dropouts are most likely due to fast drift loss of the particles to the magnetopause (or equivalently, the "magnetopause shadowing effect"). A possible effect related to the drift loss is the radial diffusion of PSD due to gradient of PSD set by the drift loss effect at an outer L region. This possibly implies that the drift loss can affect the flux levels even inside the trapping boundary. We recently investigated the details of such diffusion process by solving the diffusion equation with a set of initial and boundary conditions set by the drift loss. Motivated by the simulation work, we have examined observationally the energy spectrum and pitch angle distribution near trapping boundary during the geosynchronous flux dropouts. For this work, we have first identified a list of geosynchronous flux dropout events for 2007-2010 from GOES satellite electron measurements and solar wind pressures observed by ACE satellite. We have then used the electron data from the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) spacecraft measurements to investigate the particle fluxes. The five THEMIS spacecraft sufficiently cover the inner magnetospheric regions near the equatorial plane and thus provide us with data of much higher spatial resolution. In this paper, we report the results of our investigations on the energy spectrum and pitch angle distribution near trapping boundary during the geosynchronous flux dropout events and discuss implications on the effects of the drift loss on the flux levels at inner L regions.

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Dependence of Barredness of Late-Type Galaxies on Galaxy Properties and Environment

  • Lee, Gwang-Ho;Park, Chang-Bom;Lee, Myung-Gyoon;Choi, Yun-Young
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.35 no.1
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    • pp.75.2-75.2
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    • 2010
  • We investigate the dependence of occurrence of bar in galaxies on galaxy properties and environment. The environmental conditions considered include the large-scale background density and distance to the nearest neighbor galaxy. We use a volume-limited sample of 33,296 galaxies brighter than $M_r$=-19.5+5logh at $0.02{\leqq}z{\leqq}0.05489$, drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. We classify the galaxies into early and late types, and identify bars by visual inspection. We find that the fraction of barred galaxies ($f_{bar}$) is 18.2% on average in the case of late-type galaxies, and depends on both u-r color and central velocity dispersion $(\sigma);f_{bar}$ is a monotonically increasing function of u-r color, and has a maximum value at intermediate velocity dispersion (${\sigma}{\simeq}170km\;s^{-1}$). This trend suggests that bars are dominantly hosted by systems having intermediate-mass with no recent interaction or merger history. We also find that $f_{bar}$ does not directly depend on the large-scale background density as its dependence disappears when other physical parameters are fixed. We discover the bar fraction decreases as the separation to the nearest neighbor galaxy becomes smaller than 0.1 times the virial radius of the neighbor regardless of neighbor's morphology. These results imply that it is difficult for bars to be maintained during strong tidal interactions, and that the source for this phenomenon is gravitational and not hydrodynamical.

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A Study on the Punggi (風旗), Meteorological Instrument Made in the Joseon Dynasty (조선시대의 바람 관측기기인 풍기(風旗)의 연구)

  • Jeon, Jun Hyeok;Lee, Yong-Sam
    • Atmosphere
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    • v.23 no.1
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    • pp.47-61
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    • 2013
  • The Punggi (風旗) is one of the meteorological instruments made in the Joseon Dynasty (朝鮮王朝). Its purpose was to observe the direction of the wind. It is estimated that it started its operation in the $16^{th}$ century at least. But it does not remain in a perfect form, like the Chugugi (測雨器) and the Supyo (水標). The Punggi (風旗) can only be found at old document data, while the stone used to build the Punggi still remains. Since the stone had been named as the Punggi-dae (風旗臺) by 和田雄治 (1917), the name has not been changed until now. The Punggi is currently located in the Gyeongbok-gung (景福宮) and the Changgyeong-gung (昌慶宮). Meantime, there have been several transfers of its position. However, 和田雄治 (1917)'s paper and the "每日新報" (Maeil-Sinbo, 1929) articles have provided new clues. Also, the word 'Hupungso (候風所)' was found in the "朝鮮王朝實錄" (The annals of the Joseon Dynasty) and the "承政院日記" (Daily records of royal secretariat of Joseon dynasty). A designed harbor where the ship was staying was usually considered a special section for wind observations. It is assumed that the Hupungso was in most of the harbors at that time. This paper assumes the Punggi and the Hupungso had a lot of interest in wind observations in the Joseon Dynasty. In this study, we'll look for contained information about the Punggi and the viewpoints about wind during the Joseon Dynasty.

Comparison of the PSD radial profiles between before and after geosynchronous flux dropout: case studies using THEMIS observations

  • Hwang, Junga;Lee, Dae-Young;Kim, Kyung-Chan;Choi, Eunjin;Shin, Dae-Kyu;Kim, Jin-Hee;Cho, Jung-Hee
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.37 no.2
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    • pp.122-122
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    • 2012
  • Geosynchronous electron flux dropouts are most likely due to fast drift loss of the particles to the magnetopause (or equivalently, the "magnetopause shadowing effect"). A possible effect related to the drift loss is the radial diffusion of PSD due to gradient of PSD set by the drift loss effect at an outer L region. This possibly implies that the drift loss can affect the flux levels even inside the trapping boundary. We recently investigated the details of such diffusion process by solving the diffusion equation with a set of initial and boundary conditions set by the drift loss. Motivated by the simulation work, we have examined observationally the energy spectrum and pitch angle distribution near trapping boundary during the geosynchronous flux dropouts. For this work, we have first identified a list of geosynchronous flux dropout events for 2007-2010 from GOES satellite electron measurements and solar wind pressures observed by ACE satellite. We have then used the electron data from the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) spacecraft measurements to investigate the particle fluxes. The five THEMIS spacecraft sufficiently cover the inner magnetospheric regions near the equatorial plane and thus provide us with data of much higher spatial resolution. In this paper, we report some case studies showing energy dependence during magnetopause shadowing effect.

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