• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.13-16
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• 2011

The $CH_3OH$ $4_2-5_1$ E transition was observed toward the Sgr B2 region, including the Principal Cloud and its surroundings. This methanol transition shows an extended emission along the 2'N cloud, which is believed to be colliding with the Principal Cloud and may trigger the massive star formation in this cloud. This extended methanol emission may also suggest that the 2'N cloud is under shocks. We derive total methanol column density $N(CH_3OH)\;=\;2.9{\pm}0.3{\times}10^{14}\;cm^{-2}$ toward the peak position of the extended emission. The fractional abundance of methanol is about 10.9, relative to the estimated total $H_2$ abundance, which is similar to the methanol abundances in quiet gas phase.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.273-279
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• 2004

Chemical compositions of planetary nebulae are of interest for a study of the late stage of stellar evolution and for elemental contributions to the interstellar medium of reprocessed elements since possibly a large fraction of stars in 0.8 - 8 $M_{\bigodot}$ range go through this stage. One of the methods for getting chemical composition is a construction of theoretical photoionization models, which involves geometrical complexities and a variety of physical processes. With modelling effort, one can analyze the high dispersion and find the elemental abundances for a number of planetary nebulae. The model also gives the physical parameter of planetary nebula and its central star physical parameter along with the knowledge of its evolutionary status. Two planetary nebulae, NGC 7026 and Hu 1-2, which could have evolved from about one solar mass progenitor stars, showed radically different chemical abundances: the former has high chemical abundances in most elements, while the latter has extremely low abundances. We discuss their significance in the light of the evolution of our Galaxy.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.97-110
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• 2000

Planetary nebulae provide a direct way to probe elemental abundances, their distributions and their gradients in populations in nearby galaxies. We investigate bulge planetary nebulae in M 31 and M 32 using the strong emission lines, H$\alpha$, He I, [O III], [N II], [S II] and [Ne III]. From the [O III] 4363/5007 line ratio and the [O II] 3727/3729, we determine the electron temperatures and number densities. With a standard modeling procedure (Hyung, 1994), we fit the line intensities and diagnostic temperatures, and as a result, we derive the chemical abundances of individual planetary nebulae in M 31 and M 32. The derived chemical abundances are compared with those of the well-known Galactic planetary nebulae or the Sun. The chemical abundances of M 32 appear to be less enhanced compared to the Galaxy or M 31.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2001

We observed the thermal transitions of SiO (J=I-0, 2-1) and $^{29}SiO$ (J=l-O) toward the Sgr A molecular clouds. The distribution and the velocity structure of SiO are very similar to previous results for 'quiet' interstellar molecules. We think· that the SiO has been well mixed with other molecules such as $H_2$ which may indicate that the formation of Sgr A molecular clouds was affected by the activities, such as shock waves or energetic photons, from the Galactic center in large scales. The total column density of SiO is about $4.1\times10^{14} cm^{-2}$ and the fractional abundance $SiO/H_2$ appears to be about 10 times larger than those of other clouds in the central region of our galaxy. The derived values are thought to be lower limits since the optical depths of the observed SiO lines are not very thin. The formation of SiO has been known to be critically related to shocks, and our results provide informative data on the environment of our Galactic center.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.255-264
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• 1995

The HII region S140 and the associated molecular cloud L1204 have been observed with 10 molecular transitions, CO (1-0), $^{13}CO$ (1-0), $C^{18}O$ (1-0), CS (2-1), $HCO^+$ (1-0), HCN (1-0), SO (${2_2}-{1_1}$), $SO_2(2_{20}-3_{13})$, OCS (8-7), and $HNCO\;(4_{04}-3_{03})$ with ${\sim}50"$ angular resolutions. More than 7,000 spectra were obtained in total. The morphology of this region shows a massive fragment (the S140 core) and the extended envelope to the northeast. Several gas condensations have been identified in the envelope, having masses of ${\sim}10^{3}M_{\odot}$ and gas number densities of ${\lesssim}10^{4}cm^{-3}$ to $3{\times}10^{5}cm^{-3}$ in their cores. The column densities of the observed molecular species toward the S140 core appear to be the typical warm clouds' abundances. It seems to be that the S140 core and L1204 have been swept up by an expanding shell called the Cepheus bubble. The large value of $L_{IR}$(embedded\;stars)/$M_{cloud}\;{\sim}\;5\;L_{\odot}$/$M_{\odot}$ of the S140 core may suggest that the star formation has been stimulated by the HII region, but the shock velocity and the pressure of the region seem to give a hint of the spontaneous star formation by the self gravity.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.61-65
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• 2007

The 2-1 and 5-4 transitions of SiO have been observed toward the Sgr B2 region, including the Principal Cloud(the GMC containing Sgr B2(M)) and its surroundings. The morphology and velocity structure of the SiO emission show a close resemblance with the HNCO Ring feature, identified by Minh & Irvine(2006), of about 10 pc in diameter, which may be expanding and colliding with the Principal Cloud. Three SiO clumps have been found around the Ring, with total column densities $N_{SiO}{\sim}1{\times}10^{14}cm^{-2}$ at the peak positions of these clumps. The fractional SiO abundance relative to $H_2$ has been estimated to be ${\sim}(0.5-1){\times}10^{-9}$, which is about two orders of magnitude larger than the quiet dense cloud values. Our SiO observational result supports the existence of an expanding ring, which may be triggering active star formations in the Principal Cloud.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.55-63
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• 1999

NGC 6537 is an extremely high excitation bipolar planetary nebula. It exhibits a huge range of excitation from lines of [N I] to [Si VI]or [Fe VII], i.e. from neutral atoms to atoms requiring an ionization potential of $\~$167eV. Its kinematical structures are of special interest. We are here primarily concerned with its high resolution spectrum as revealed by the Hamilton Echelle Spectrograph at Lick Observatory (resolution $\~0.2{\AA}$) and supplemented by UV and near-UV data. Photoionization model reproduces the observed global spectrum of NGC 6537, the absolute H$\beta$ flux, and the observed visual or blue magnitude fairly well. The nebulosity of NGC 6537 is likely to be the result of photo-ionization by a very hot star of $T_{eff} \~ 180,000 K$, although the global nebular morphology and kinematics suggest an effect by strong stellar winds and resulting shock heating. NGC 6537 can be classified as a Peimbert Type I planetary nebula. It is extremely young and it may have originated from a star of about 5 $M_{\bigodot}$.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2000

We have investigated the properties of the high-latitude cloud MBM 7 using the 3 mm transitions of CO, CS, HCN, $HCO^+,\;C_3H_2,\;N_2H^+$, and SiO. The molecular component of MBM 7 shows a very clumpy structure with a size of $\le$0.5 pc, elongated along the northwest-southeast direction, perpendicularly to an extended HI component, which could be resulted from shock formation. We have derived physical properties for two molecular cores in the central region. Their sizes are 0.1-0.3 pc and masses 1-2 M$\bigodot$ having an average volume density $\~2{\times}10^3 cm^{-3}$ at the peak of molecular emission. We have tested the stability of the cores using the full version of the virial theorem and found that the cores are stabilized with ambient medium, and they are expected not to be dissipated easily without external perturbations. Therefore MBM 7 does not seem to be a site for new star formation. The molecular abundances in the densest core appear to be much less (by about one order of magnitude) than the 'general' dark cloud values. If the depletions of heavy elements are not significant in the HLCs compared with those in typical dark clouds, our results may suggest different chemical evolutionary stages or different chemical environments of the HLCs compared with dense dark clouds in the Galactic plane.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.117-125
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• 1998

We have observed the 10-9 transitions of $HC_3N$ and its $^{13}C$ substitutes ($H^{13}CCCN,\;HC^{13}CCN$, and $HCC^{13}CN$), and the vibration ally excited 12-11 ($v_r=1$) $HC_3N$ transition toward the Sgr B2 molecular cloud. The observed $HC_3N$ emission shows an elongated shape around the Principal Cloud ($\~$4.5 pc in R.A. $\times$ 7.4 pc in Decl.). The optically thin $H^{13}CCCN$ line peaks around the (N) core and we derive the total column density $N(H^{13}CCCN) = 4 {\times}10^{13} cm^{-2}$ at this position. Toward the 2' N cloud which shows the peculiar chemistry, the $HC_3N$ lines show enhancements compared to the extended envelope. The shocks of the 2' N may have resulted in the enhancement of $HC_3N$. The hot component of $HC_3N$ is strongly concentrated around the (N) core and its HPW is $\~$0.9 pc in diameter. We derive the lower limit of the abundance ratio $N(HC_3N)/N(H^{13}CCCN)$ to be larger than 40 in most regions except the (M) and (N) cores. The fractionation processes of $^{13}C $at this region may not be as effective as previously reported.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.179-185
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• 2014

We study the physical and chemical properties of the molecular clump hosting a young stellar cluster, IRAS 20160+3636, which is believed to have formed via the "collect and collapse" process. Physical parameters of the UC H II region associated with the embedded cluster are measured from the radio continuum observations. This source is found to be a typical Galactic UC H II region, with a B0.5 type exciting star, if it is ionized by a single star. We derive a CN/HCN abundance ratio larger than 1 over this region, which may suggest that this clump is being affected by the UV radiation from the H II region.