• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.47.4-48
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• 2021

Gravitationally lensed Type Ia supernovae may be the next frontier in cosmic probes, able to deliver independent constraints on dark energy, spatial curvature, and the Hubble constant. Measurements of time delays between the multiple images become more incisive due to the standardized candle nature of the source, monitoring for months rather than years, and partial immunity to microlensing. While currently extremely rare, hundreds of such systems should be detected by upcoming time-domain surveys. Others will have the images spatially unresolved, with the observed lightcurve a superposition of time delayed image fluxes. We investigate whether unresolved images can be recognized as lensed sources given only lightcurve information and whether time delays can be extracted robustly. We develop a method that we show can identify these systems for the case of lensed Type Ia supernovae with two images and time delays exceeding ten days. When tested on such an ensemble the method achieves a false positive rate of ≲5%, and measures the time delays with the completeness of ≳93% and with a bias of ≲0.5% for time delay ≳10 days. Since the method does not assume a template of any particular type of SN, the method has the potential to work on other types of lensed SNe systems and possibly on other transients.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.47.1-47.1
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• 2020

Multi-band photometry provides an advantage in being able to perform taxonomic classification analysis on a large number of asteroids in a much shorter period of time than spectroscopy. We observed main-belt asteroids using Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) in CTIO during the summer seasons in the southern hemisphere, mostly in December 2015, 2016 and 2017 with two visible photometric systems, SDSS (g, r, i, and z), and Johnson-Cousins (B, V, R, and I). Targets were selected for the asteroids which had already been classified based on Bus-Binzel taxonomy (Bus & Binzel, 2002) and DeMeo taxonomy (DeMeo et al. 2009). Not only the targets but also numerous serendipitously observed asteroids were identified. In summary, 6817 and 5456 known objects, including 307 and 233 already classified asteroids were observed with SDSS and Johnson-Cousins systems, respectively. Using principal component analysis, the three major asteroid complexes and a class, S-, C-, and X-complexes and V class are found to be well separated in the principal component plane (spectral slope and 1 micron absorption depth) with both filter systems. We will present and discuss the results of our newly proposed three-dimensional color taxonomy for asteroids using the whole dataset (Roh et al., to be submitted).

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.46.2-46.2
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• 2020

Dust ejection activities have been discovered from a few tens of asteroids since the first confirmation in 2006. Those objects are known as active asteroids. They provide good observational chances to study ongoing phenomena in the solar system such as sublimation of icy volatiles, mutual collisions among asteroids, rotational disintegrations, thermal fatigue, etc. Although dust ejection mechanisms of individual cases have been investigated through observations, the frequencies of the events and their connection to the overall evolutionary budget of the solar system have not yet been studied thoroughly, mainly because previous studies were based on serendipitous discoveries without any systematic surveys of these objects. In this work, we made wide-field monitoring observations of asteroids using Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) during the 2018/2019 winter season. Among 3,644 asteroids in the field-of-view, we detected nine candidates of brightness enhancements which we suspect as possible activities. It is still possible that some of those brightness increases have caused by long-term rotations. However, our observed frequency and brightness enhancements size-frequency distribution agrees with the expectations from impacts with decimeter sized objects, when the main belt objects size-frequency distribution observed down to decameter sized bodies are extrapolated to decimeter size.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.60.2-60.2
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• 2020

In the hierarchical framework, galaxies grow through mergers and accretion. Those mechanisms leave faint features, such as stellar streams, shells and smooth stellar halos in the outskirts of galaxies. In order to search for those features in the nearby galaxies, we are conducting a KMTNet Nearby Galaxy Survey using the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network. We present a deep and wide-field imaging of NGC 5236, a barred spiral galaxy. In one-dimensional surface brightness profiles, we reach 28, 29 mag/arcsec2 in the R- and B-band, respectively. We find that the outer disk of NGC 5236 can be well described with a single exponential profile up to 17 kpc (~3.8 Reff) indicating that the excess light due to the stellar halo is not clearly detected. B-R color gradually increases towards the outskirts of the galaxy. It may reveal that stellar properties in the outskirts are marginally distinctive from those in the central part.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.55.2-55.2
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• 2015

한국천문연구원에서는 2도${\times}$2도 시야의 1.6m 광시야 망원경과 $18k{\times}18k$ 모자이크 CCD 카메라로 이루어진 관측시스템을 남반구천문대 3곳에 설치하여 24시간 모니터링 관측이 가능한 Korea Microlensing Telescope Network(KMTNet)을 구축하고 있다. 망원경 1,2,3호기는 각각 칠레 CTIO, 남아공 SAAO, 호주 SSO 관측소에 2014년말 까지 성공적으로 설치 완료하였으며, 2015년 2월 현재 칠레와 남아공에는 연구용 18k CCD 카메라, 호주에는 시험관측용 4k CCD 카메라를 부착하여 시험관측을 수행중이다. 시험관측을 통해 KMTNet 시스템에서 가장 중요한 부분인 광시야 광학계가 요구사양을 만족함을 확인하였고, 과학연구 수행에 어려움이 없을 것으로 예상한다. 우리는 시험관측을 통해 얻어진 각각의 시스템 성능을 검토하고, 관측 후 파일전송, 전처리 및 자료 배포와 더불어 안정적인 측광성능 유지를 위한 시스템 운영 및 향후 계획에 대하여 발표한다.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.41-49
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• 2017

We conduct BVRI and R band photometric observations of asteroid (5247) Krylov from January 2016 to April 2016 for 51 nights using the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet). The color indices of (5247) Krylov at the light curve maxima are determined as $B-V=0.841{\pm}0.035$, $V-R=0.418{\pm}0.031$, and $V-I=0.871{\pm}0.031$ where the phase angle is $14.1^{\circ}$. They are acquired after the standardization of BVRI instrumental measurements using the ensemble normalization technique. Based on the color indices, (5247) Krylov is classified as a S-type asteroid. Double periods, that is, a primary period $P_1=82.188{\pm}0.013h$ and a secondary period $P_2=67.13{\pm}0.20h$ are identified from period searches of its R band light curve. The light curve phases with $P_1$ and this indicate that it is a typical Non-Principal Axis (NPA) asteroid. We discuss the possible causes of its NPA rotation.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.39-45
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• 2009

We investigate the degeneracy in the pattern of central microlensing perturbations of a pair of planetary systems where the planets are located from the primary with projected separations in units of the Einstein radius s and $s^{-1}$, respectively. From this, we confirm the fact that although alike, the patterns of central perturbations induced by a close (s < 1) planet and a wide (s > 1) planet are not identical and the degree of difference depends on the planet/primary mass ratio and the planet-primary separation. We find that the difference can be greater than 5% for planetary systems with lensing parameters located in the parameter space of (1/1.8 < |s| < 1.8, q > $5{\times}10^{-3}$), (1/1.3 < |s| < 1.3, q > $1{\times}10^{-3}$), and (1/1.2 < |s| < 1.2, q > $5{\times}10^{-4}$), where q represents the planet/primary mass ratio. Although this range occupies a small fraction of the entire parameter space of planetary systems, we predict that the chance of resolving the close/wide degeneracy would not be meager considering that the planet detection efficiency is higher for planets with resonant separations (s $\sim$ 1) and heavier masses. We also find that the differences between the perturbation patterns are basically caused by the effect of the planetary caustic. This explains the tendency of the perturbation difference where (1) the difference increases as the planet/primary mass ratio increases and the separation approaches the Einstein radius, (2) the region of major difference is confined within the region around the line connecting the central and the planetary caustics, and (3) a wide (close) planetary system has a more extended central perturbation region toward the (opposite) direction of the planet.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.49.2-49.2
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• 2016

The number of discovery of asteroids with peculiar rotational states has recently increased, and hence a novel approach for lightcurve analysis is considered to be critical. In order to investigate objects such as Non-Principal Axis (NPA) rotator, we selected a NPA candidate, (5247) Kryolv as our target considering its Principal Axis Rotation (PAR) code and the visibility in early 2016. The observations of Krylov were made using Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) 1.6 m telescopes installed at the three southern sites with TO (Target of Opportunity) observation mode. We conducted R-band time-series photometry over a total of 51 nights from January to April 2016 with several exposures during each allocated run. The ensemble normalization photometry was employed using the AAVSO Photomtric All-Sky Survey (APASS) catalog for the standardization. We successfully confirmed its NPA spin state based on the deviation from the reduced lightcurve, and thus Krylov is recorded as the first NPA rotator of its kind in the main-belt, with its precession and rotation periods, $P{\varphi}=81.18h$ and $P_{\Psi}=67.17h$, respectively. In this paper, we present the spin direction, the 3D shape model and taxonomy of the newly confirmed NPA asteroid (5247) Krylov.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.82.2-82.2
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• 2017

Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) is one of powerful tools for investigating primordial objects in the inner solar system in that it covers a large area of the sky ($2{\times}2$ degree2) with a high observational cadence. The Deep Ecliptic Patrol of the Southern sky (DEEP-South) survey has been scanning the southern sky using KMTNet for non-bulge time (45 full nights per year) [1] since 2015 for examining color, albedo, rotation, and shape of the solar system bodies. Since 2017 January, we have launched a new collaborative group between Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) and Seoul National University (SNU) with support from KASI to reinforce mutual collaboration among these institutes and further to enhance human resources development by utilizing the KMTNet/DEEP-South data. In particular, we focus on the detection of comets and asteroids spontaneously scanned in the DEEP-South for (1) investigating the secular changes in comet's activities and (2) analyzing precovery and recovery images of objects in the NASA's NEOWISE survey region. In this presentation, we will describe our scientific objectives and current status on using KMTNet data, which includes updating the accuracy of the world coordinate system (WCS) information, finding algorithm of solar system bodies in the image, and doing non-sidereal photometry.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.48.1-48.1
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• 2010

Four of nine exoplanets found by microlensing were detected by the resonant caustic, which represents the merging of the planetary and central caustics at the position when the projected separation of a host star and a bounded planet is s~1. One of the resonant caustic lensing events, OGLE-2005-BLG-169, was a caustic-crossing high-magnification event with A_max ~800 and the source star was much smaller than the caustic, nevertheless the perturbation was not obviously apparent on the light curve of the event. In this paper, we investigate the perturbation pattern of the resonant caustic to understand why the perturbations induced by the caustic do not leave strong traces on the light curves of high-magnification events despite a small source/caustic size ratio. From this study, we find that the regions with small magnification excess around the center of the resonant caustic are rather widely formed, and the event passing the small-excess region produces a high-magnification event with a weak perturbation that is small relative to the amplification caused by the star and thus does not noticeably appear on the light curve of the event. We also find that the positive excess of the inside edge of the resonant caustic and the negative excess inside the caustic become stronger and wider as q increases, and thus the resonant caustic-crossing high-magnification events with the weak perturbation occur in the range of q $\leq$ 10-4. We determine the probability of the occurrence of events with the small excess $|\varepsilon|{\leq}3%$ in high-magnification events induced by a resonant caustic. As a result, we find that for the Earth-mass planets with a separation of ~2.5 AU the resonant caustic high-magnification events with the weak perturbation can occur with a significant frequen.