• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.53.3-54
• /
• 2021

We present optical follow-up observation results of three binary black hole merger (BBH) events, GW190408 181802, GW190412, and GW190503 185404, which were detected by the Advanced Ligo and Virgo gravitational wave (GW) detectors. Electromagnetic (EM) counterparts are generally not expected for BBH merger events, however, some theoretical models suggest that EM counterparts of BBH can possibly arise in special environments. To identify EM counterparts of the three BBH merger events, we observed high-credibility regions of the sky with telescopes of the Gravitational-wave EM Counterpart Korean Observatory (GECKO), including the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet). Our observation started as soon as 100 minutes after the GW event alert and covered roughly 29 - 63 deg2 for each event with a depth of 22.5 mag in R-band within hours of observation. No plausible EM counterparts were found for these events. Our result gives a great promise for the GECKO facilities to find EM counterparts within few hours from GW detection in future GW observation runs.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.45 no.1
• /
• pp.46.3-47
• /
• 2020

Variations in the brightness of asteroids are caused by their spins, irregular shapes and companions. Thus, in principle, the spin state and shape model of a single object or, a combined model of spins, shapes and mutual orbit of a multiple components can be constructed from the analysis of light curves obtained from the time-series photometry. Using ground- and space-based facilities, a number of time-series photometric observations of asteroids have been conducted to find the possible causes of their light variations. Nonetheless, only about 2% of the known asteroids have been confirmed for their rotation periods. Therefore, a follow-on systematic photometric survey of asteroids is essential. We started an asteroid light curve survey for this purpose using Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) during 199 nights between the second half of 2019 and the first half of 2020. We monitored within a 2° × 14° region of the sky per each night with 25 min cadences. In order to observe as many asteroids as possible with a single exposure, we mostly focus on the ecliptic plane. In our survey, 25,925 asteroids were observed and about 8,000 of them were confirmed for their rotation periods. In addition, using KMTNet's 24-hour continuous monitoring, we collected many composite light curves of slow rotating asteroids that were rarely obtained with previous observations. In this presentation, we will introduce the typical light curves of asteroids obtained from our survey and present a statistical analysis of spin states and shapes of the asteroids from this study.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.49 no.6
• /
• pp.295-306
• /
• 2016

We present the results of BV time-series photometry of the globular cluster NGC 288. Observations were carried out to search for variable stars using the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) 1.6-m telescopes and a 4k pre-science CCD camera during a test observation from August to December, 2014. We found a new SX Phe star and confirmed twelve previously known variable stars in NGC 288. For the semi-regular variable star V1, we newly determined a period of 37.3 days from light curves spanning 137 days. The light-curve solution of the eclipsing binary V10 indicates that the system is probably a detached system. The pulsation properties of nine SX Phe stars were examined by applying multiple frequency analysis to their light curves. We derived a new Period-Luminosity (P-L) relation, ${\langle}M_V{\rangle}=-2.476({\pm}0.300){\log}P-0.354({\pm}0.385)$, from six SX Phe stars showing the fundamental mode. Additionally, the period ratios of three SX Phe stars that probably have a double-radial mode were investigated; $P_{FO}/P_F=0.779$ for V5, $P_{TO}/P_{FO}=0.685$ for V9, $P_{SO}/P_{FO}=0.811$ for V11. This paper is the first contribution in a series assessing the detections and properties of variable stars in six southern globular clusters with the KMTNet system.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.53 no.1
• /
• pp.9-26
• /
• 2020

At q = 1.81 ± 0.20 × 10^-5, KMT-2018-BLG-0029Lb has the lowest planet-host mass ratio q of any microlensing planet to date by more than a factor of two. Hence, it is the first planet that probes below the apparent "pile-up" at q = 5-10 ×10^-5. The event was observed by Spitzer, yielding a microlens-parallax π_E measurement. Combined with a measurement of the Einstein radius θ_E from finite-source effects during the caustic crossings, these measurements imply masses of the host M_host = 1.14^+0.10_-0.12 M_⊙ and planet M_planet = 7.59^+0.75_-0.69 M_⊕, system distance D_L = 3.38^+0.22_-0.26 kpc and projected separation a_⊥ = 4.27^+0.21_-0.23 AU. The blended light, which is substantially brighter than the microlensed source, is plausibly due to the lens and could be observed at high resolution immediately.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.49 no.5
• /
• pp.199-208
• /
• 2016

We present photometric results of the δ Sct star V1162 Ori, which is extensively monitored for a total of 49 nights from mid-December 2014 to early-March 2015. The observations are made with three KMTNet (Korea Microlensing Telescope Network) 1.6 m telescopes installed in Chile, South Africa, and Australia. Multiple frequency analysis is applied to the data and resulted in clear detection of seven frequencies without an alias problem: five known frequencies and two new ones with small amplitudes of 1.2-1.7 mmag. The amplitudes of all but one frequency are significantly different from previous results, confirming the existence of long-term amplitude changes. We examine the variations in pulsation timings of V1162 Ori for about 30 years by using the times of maximum light obtained from our data and collected from the literatures. The O − C (Observed minus Calculated) timing diagram shows a combination of a downward parabolic variation with a period decreasing rate of (1/P)dP/dt = −4.22 × 10⁻⁶ year⁻¹ and a cyclic change with a period of about 2780 days. The most probable explanation for this cyclic variation is the light-travel-time effect caused by an unknown binary companion, which has a minimum mass of 0.69 M_⊙. V1162 Ori is the first δ Sct-type pulsating star of which the observed fast period decrease can be interpreted as an evolutionary effect of a pre-main sequence star, considering its membership of the Orion OB 1c association.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.55 no.4
• /
• pp.123-130
• /
• 2022

We present the analysis of a planetary microlensing event OGLE-2019-BLG-0362 with a shortduration anomaly (~0.4 days) near the peak of the light curve, which is caused by the resonant caustic. The event has a severe degeneracy with ∆𝜒² = 0.9 between the close and the wide binary lens models both with planet-host mass ratio q ≃ 0.007. We measure the angular Einstein radius but not the microlens parallax, and thus we perform a Bayesian analysis to estimate the physical parameters of the lens. We find that the OGLE-2019-BLG-0362L system is a super-Jovian-mass planet $M_p=3.26^{+0.83}_{-0.58}M_J $ orbiting an M dwarf $M_h=0.42^{+0.34}_{-0.23}M_{\odot}$ at a distance $D_L=5.83^{+1.04}_{-1.55}kpc$. The projected star-planet separation is ${\alpha}_{\bot}= 2.18^{+0.58}_{-0.72}AU$, which indicates that the planet lies beyond the snow line of the host star.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.173-194
• /
• 2022

We complete the survey for finite-source/point-lens (FSPL) giant-source events in 2016-2019 KMTNet microlensing data. The 30 FSPL events show a clear gap in Einstein radius, 9 𝜇as < 𝜃_E < 26 𝜇as, which is consistent with the gap in Einstein timescales near t_E ~ 0.5 days found by Mróz et al. (2017) in an independent sample of point-source/point-lens (PSPL) events. We demonstrate that the two surveys are consistent. We estimate that the 4 events below this gap are due to a power-law distribution of free-floating planet candidates (FFPs) dN_FFP/d log M = (0.4 ± 0.2) (M/38 M_⊕)^-p/star, with 0.9 ≲ p ≲ 1.2. There are substantially more FFPs than known bound planets, implying that the bound planet power-law index 𝛾 = 0.6 is likely shaped by the ejection process at least as much as by formation. The mass density per decade of FFPs in the Solar neighborhood is of the same order as that of 'Oumuamua-like objects. In particular, if we assume that 'Oumuamua is part of the same process that ejected the FFPs to very wide or unbound orbits, the power-law index is p = 0.89 ± 0.06. If the Solar System's endowment of Neptune-mass objects in Neptune-like orbits is typical, which is consistent with the results of Poleski et al. (2021), then these could account for a substantial fraction of the FFPs in the Neptune-mass range.