• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.123-128
• /
• 2008

Productivity of the Giant Magellan Telescope is estimated based on the annual number of papers produced by the currently operating large telescopes such as the telescope at the ESO La Silla observatory, CFHT, AAT, the Magellan telescopes, ESO VLT, Japanese Subaru, the Gemini telescopes, and the Keck telescopes. We find that the amount of papers produced by a large telescope is roughly proportional to the diameter of its primary mirror. With this fact, we estimate the SCI-paper productivity of the Giant Magellan Telescope by extrapolating the productivity of the above-mentioned large telescopes. Moreover, according to the paper written in 2001 by Benn and Sanchez, the amount of highly-cited papers produced by a large telescope is roughly proportional to the light-gathering power of the telescope or the square of the diameter. Hence, we survey the productivity of Nature-class papers of the large telescopes and extrapolate the relationship to estimate the productivity of the Nature-class papers by using the Giant Magellan telescope of a filled aperture 21.4 meters in diameter. We expect that Korean astronomers will be able to produce annually 60 SCI-class papers and 20 Nature-class papers with high scientific impact by using the telescope-time corresponding to the 10% share of the Giant Magellan Telescope.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.54 no.3
• /
• pp.89-102
• /
• 2021

Even in an era where 8-meter class telescopes are common, small telescopes are considered very valuable research facilities since they are available for rapid follow-up or long term monitoring observations. To maximize the usefulness of small telescopes in Korea, we established the SomangNet, a network of 0.4-1.0 m class optical telescopes operated by Korean institutions, in 2020. Here, we give an overview of the project, describing the current participating telescopes, its scientific scope and operation mode, and the prospects for future activities. SomangNet currently includes 10 telescopes that are located in Australia, USA, and Chile as well as in Korea. The operation of many of these telescopes currently relies on operators, and we plan to upgrade them for remote or robotic operation. The latest SomangNet science projects include monitoring and follow-up observational studies of galaxies, supernovae, active galactic nuclei, symbiotic stars, solar system objects, neutrino/gravitational-wave sources, and exoplanets.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.655-657
• /
• 2015

The Australia Telescope National Facility (ATNF) consists of the Parkes and Mopra radio telescopes, and the Australia Telescope Compact Array, with the first elements of the wide-field Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), currently being commissioned. The capabilities of these facilities are described.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.49 no.1
• /
• pp.37-44
• /
• 2016

The Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) is a wide-field photometric system installed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). Here, we present the overall technical specifications of the KMTNet observation system, test observation results, data transfer and image processing procedure, and finally, the KMTNet science programs. The system consists of three 1.6 m wide-field optical telescopes equipped with mosaic CCD cameras of 18k by 18k pixels. Each telescope provides a 2.0 by 2.0 square degree field of view. We have finished installing all three telescopes and cameras sequentially at the Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in South Africa, and the Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) in Australia. This network of telescopes, which is spread over three different continents at a similar latitude of about -30 degrees, enables 24-hour continuous monitoring of targets observable in the Southern Hemisphere. The test observations showed good image quality that meets the seeing requirement of less than 1.0 arcsec in I-band. All of the observation data are transferred to the KMTNet data center at KASI via the international network communication and are processed with the KMTNet data pipeline. The primary scientific goal of the KMTNet is to discover numerous extrasolar planets toward the Galactic bulge by using the gravitational microlensing technique, especially earth-mass planets in the habitable zone. During the non-bulge season, the system is used for wide-field photometric survey science on supernovae, asteroids, and external galaxies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.46 no.2
• /
• pp.53.4-54
• /
• 2021

Although the era of very large telescopes has come, small telescopes still have advantages for fast follow-up and long-term monitoring observation. Intensive monitoring survey of nearby galaxies (IMSNG) aims to understand the nature of the supernovae (SNe) by catching the early light curve from them with the network of small telescopes from 0.4-m to 1.0-m all around the world. To achieve the scientific goals with heterogeneous facilities, three factors are important. First, automatic processes as soon as data is uploaded will increase efficiency and shorten the time. Second, searching for transients is necessary to deal with newly emerged transients for fast follow-up observation. Finally, the Integrated process for different telescopes gives a homogeneous output, which will eventually make connections with the database easy. Here, we introduce the integrated pipeline, 'gppy' based on Python, for more than 10 facilities having various configurations and its performance. Processes consist of image pre-process, photometry, image align, image combine, photometry, and transient search. In the connected database, homogeneous output is summarized and analyzed additionally to filter transient candidates with light curves. This talk will suggest the future work to improve the performance and usability on the other projects, gravitational wave electromagnetic wave counterpart in Korea Observatory (GECKO), and small telescope network of Korea (SOMANGNET).

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.683-685
• /
• 2015

A group of universities have come together with the aim of designing and developing Small Aperture Robotic Telescopes (SmART) for use by students to observe variable stars and transient follow-ups. The group is deliberating on the components of the robotic system; e.g. the telescope, the mount, the back-end camera, control software, and their integration keeping in mind the scientific objectives. The prototype might then be replicated by all the participating universities to provide round the clock observations from sites spread evenly in longitude across the globe. Progress made so far is reported in this paper.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.75-89
• /
• 2023

Technosignature, previously known as SETI(search for extraterrestrial intelligence), is the scientific evidence of past or present extraterrestrial civilizations. Since NRAO's Project Ozma was performed in 1960, most of the noticeable technosignature searches have been done by radio telescopes, hoping to find strong and narrow bandwidth signals that cannot be explained by known natural processes. Recently, the Breakthrough Listen project has opened a new opportunity for technosignature by utilizing both optical telescopes, radio telescopes, and next-generation radio telescope arrays. In this review, mainly based on NASA Technosignatures Workshop (2018), we review the current trends of technosignature surveys, as well as other possible methods for detecting technosignature. Also, we suggest what the Korean community could contribute the technosignature research, including the new SETI project with Korea VLBI Network (KVN).

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.41.2-41.2
• /
• 2015

Steward Observatory has a rich and diverse program of investigations, with significant groups working on star and planet formation and astrobiology, galaxy and quasar formation and evolution, technology for adaptive optics and interferometry, computational astrophysics, and effectiveness of educational practice. To support this work, Steward operates and offers a range of observational and other facilities, including the Large Binocular Telescope, the MMT, the Magellan Telescopes, the Arizona Radio Observatory, and a suite of 1- and 2-m class telescopes. A special opportunity for IR astronomy exists with Arizona now running UKIRT. Steward Observatory astronomers would welcome the opportunity to form genuine scientific collaborations that are mutually beneficial for high-impact projects and improving the observing facilities.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.103-106
• /
• 2005

The Submillimeter Array (SMA), a collaborative project of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) and the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy & Astrophysics (ASIAA), has begun operation on Mauna Kea in Hawaii. A total of eight 6-m radio telescopes comprise the array with currently working receiver bands at 230, 345, and 690 GHz. The array will have 8 receiver bands covering the frequency range of 180-900 GHz. The backend is flexible analog-digital correlator with a full bandwidth of 2GHz, which is very powerful to cover several line emissions simultaneously. The current status and future plans of the SMA are described with emphasis on Taiwanese efforts.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.29 no.spc1
• /
• pp.425-426
• /
• 1996

A few optical schemes for the future Russian astrometric satellite ('Struve') are discussed. New optical materials and techniques developed at the Vavilov State Optical Institute are planned to be used for the on-board telescopes. Optical characteristics of the reflecting Schmidt and a three - mirror scheme for the on-board telescopes are compared.