• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.621-624
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• 2015

We present the current status (as of August 2014) of SPICA (Space Infrared Telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics), which is a mission optimized for mid- and far-infrared astronomy with a cryogenically cooled 3m-class telescope. SPICA is expected to achieve high spatial resolution and unprecedented sensitivity in the mid- and far-infrared, which will enable us to address a number of key problems in present-day astronomy, ranging from the star-formation history of the universe to the formation of planets. We have carried out the "Risk Mitigation Phase" activity, in which key technologies essential to the realization of the mission have been extensively developed. Consequently, technical risks for the success of the mission have been significantly mitigated. Along with these technical activities, the international collaboration framework of SPICA has been revisited, which resulted in la arger contribution from ESA than that in the original plan. To enable the ESA participation under the new framework, a SPICA proposal to ESA is under consideration as a medium-class mission under the framework of the ESA Cosmic Vision. The target launch year of SPICA under the new framework is the mid-2020s.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.99-107
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• 2008

When a new counting experiment is proposed, it is crucial to predict whether the desired source signal will be detected, or how much observation time is required in order to detect the signal at a certain significance level. The concept of the a priori prediction of the detection limit in a newly proposed experiment should be distinguished from the a posteriori claim or decision whether a source signal was detected in an experiment already performed, and the calculation of statistical significance of a measured source signal. We formulate precise definitions of these concepts based on the statistical theory of hypothesis testing, and derive an approximate formula to estimate quickly the a priori detection limit of expected Poissonian source signals. A more accurate algorithm for calculating the detection limits in a counting experiment is also proposed. The formula and the proposed algorithm may be used for the estimation of required integration or observation time in proposals of new experiments. Applications include the calculation of integration time required for the detection of faint emission lines in a newly proposed spectroscopic observation, and the detection of faint sources in a new imaging observation. We apply the results to the calculation of observation time required to claim the detection of the surface thermal emission from neutron stars with two virtual instruments.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.100.1-100.1
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• 2012

We present results of AKARI observations toward 8 dense molecular cores which are previously known to be "starless". These cores show some spectral features which may imply characteristic internal motions. The observations were carried out at 8 bands (3, 4, 7, 11, 65, 90, 140, and 160 micron) with IRC and FIS instruments equipped in the AKARI. The archive data of 2MASS and Spitzer were also utilized. We found that 1 (L1582A) of 8 cores has a few embedded young stellar objects (YSOs) while the rest of them are still starless. The YSOs found in L1582A are identified by the slope of the spectral energy distribution or by the AKARI color-color diagram. The unusually broad linewidth toward L1582A, which is twice broader than one of starless cores, is also consistent with the existence of protostars in this core. The physical environment and evolution of the other "starless" cores where any AKARI point source is not detected will be discussed with help of their molecular line observations.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.341-350
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• 2002

Near Earth Object Patrol Team (National Research Lab.) at KAO and YSTAR team at Yonsei University Observatory jointly developed a dome enclosure to be installed abroad together with a survey telescope. It has a fully-open clam shell type design to maximize the fast slew capability of the telescope and is also sturdy enough to protect the observation system under extreme weather conditions. We also developed an electric control circuit for the enclosure so that it can become a part of automated observing system. The enclosure has been installed at the Sutherland Observatory of South African Astronomical Observatory in April 2002, and has been successfully operational.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.57.3-57.3
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• 2021

99942 Apophis is an Sq-type Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA) with an estimated diameter of 370 m. It will approach the Earth down to 31,000 km from the surface during the encounter on April 13, 2029 UT, which is closer than geostationary satellites. This once-in-a-20,000 year opportunity would further expand our knowledge on the physical and dynamical processes which are expected to occur due to the gravitational tidal forces when an asteroid encounter with a planet. It will also provide an opportunity to promote great knowledge of the science of planetary defense. The science goal of the Apophis mission is to global-map the asteroid before and after the Earth's approach. In this talk, we will present scientific objectives, and briefly introduce instruments and operation scenarios of the mission.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.60.4-60.4
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• 2019

Small bodies in the solar system are pristine leftovers of planetesimals since the formation epoch (~4.6 Gyr ago). After the formation, icy planetesimals have been preserved in the distant cold place beyond 30 au (i.e., Trans-Neptunian region) until recently without any catastrophic processes but have just been injected into inner region (<~5 au from the Sun) to be observed as comets. On the contrary, asteroids are rocky primitive objects (although some of them contains icy volatiles) distributing in the mainbelt between Mars and Jupiter orbits. Because of frequent encounters in the mainbelt, asteroids have experienced a number of repeated impacts until the present day. Namely, it is important to investigate thermal alternation process of cometary volatiles and refractories in the solar radiation field, whereas collisional and subsequence phenomena of asteroidal bodies. Although recent spacecraft observations revealed the physical natures on the surfaces of comets and asteroids, their interiors still remain largely unexplored. It is likely that a sudden brightening of a comet is associated with rapid sublimation of internal CO and CO2 or phase transition of amorphous H2O. An episodic dust ejection from an asteroid is causally related to an impact among asteroids, sudden sublimation of remaining subsurficial volatiles, etc. Because these transient phenomena provide rare opportunities to investigate their interiors, immediate observations using any optical instruments are particular important. In my presentation, I will review some examples of such transient phenomena in the solar system and propose possible collaborative research using the Korean Small Telescope Network.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.40.1-40.1
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• 2020

The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute is participating as a South Korean partner in the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS)of NASA. In response, the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute is currently conducting basic research for the development of four candidate instrument payloads. The magnetic field instrument is one of them and it's scientific mission objective is the moon's surface magnetic field investigation. Therefore, the development requirement of the lunar surface magnetic field instrument were derived and the initial conceptual design was started. The magnetic field instrument has a 1.2 meter boom which has two three-axis fluxgate magnetometer sensors and one gyro sensor to get a attitude information of the boom. The concept of measuring the lunar surface magnetic field will carry out using multiple sensors by placing semiconductor type magnetic field sensors inside the electric box including boom mounted fluxgate sensors. In order to overcome the very short development period, we will use the KPLO (Korean Lunar Pathfinder Orbiter) magnetometer design and parts to improve reliabilities for this instrument. In this presentation, we introduce the instrument requirements and conceptual design for the Lunar surface magnetic field instruments.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.53.2-53.2
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• 2015

Fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) are the most compact and reliable method of suppressing atmospheric emission lines in the infrared for ground-based telescopes. It has been proved that real FBGs based filters were able to eliminate 63 bright sky lines with minimal interline losses in 2011 (GNOSIS). Inscribing FBGs on multi-core fibers offers advantages. Compared to arrays of individual SMFs, the multi-core fiber Bragg grating (MCFBG) is greatly reduced in size, resistant to damage, simple to fabricate, and easy to taper into a photonics lantern (PRAXIS). Multi-mode fibers should be used and the number of modes has to be large enough to capture a sufficient amount of light from the telescope. However, the fiber Bragg gratings can only be inscribed in the single-mode fiber. A photonic lantern bi-directionally converts multi-mode to single-mode. The number of cores in MCFBGs corresponds to the mode. For a writing system consisting of a single ultra-violet (UV) laser and phase mask, the standard writing method is insufficient to produce uniform MCFBGs due to the spatial variations of the field at each core within the fiber. Most significant technical challenges are consequences of the side-on illumination of the fiber. Firstly, the fiber cladding acts as a cylindrical lens, narrowing the incident beam as it passes through the air-cladding interface. Consequently, cores receive reduced or zero illumination, while the focusing induces variations in the power at those that are exposed. The second effect is the shadowing of the furthest cores by the cores nearest to the light source. Due to a higher refractive index of cores than the cladding, diffraction occurs at each core-cladding interface as well as cores absorb the light. As a result, any core that is located directly behind another in the beam path is underexposed or exposed to a distorted interference pattern from what phase mask originally generates. Technologies are discussed to overcome the problems and recent experimental results are presented as well as simulation results.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.53.1-53.1
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• 2015

The GMT-Consortium Large Earth Finder(G-CLEF) is one of the first light instruments at the Giant Magellan Telescope. The international consortium consists of five astronomical institutes including the Center for Astrophysics, the Observatories of Carnegie Institute, the University of Catolica in Chile, the University of Chicago, and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, led by CfA. The extremely precise radial velocity capability is one of the principal instrumental feature of G-CLEF. The RV goal is 10 cm/s capable of detecting an Earth-like planet around a Sun-like host star. This high precision wavelength calibration stability requires a set of significantly tight optomechanical tolerances in the mechanical design of the Flexure Control Camera system. KASI is in charge of the Flexure Control Camera and the Calibration Light System for the G-CLEF spectrograph. In this presentation, we introduce the preliminary design and analysis results of the G-CLEF Flexure Control Camera.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.82.1-82.1
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• 2013

The SPICA (SPace Infrared Telescope for Cosmology & Astrophysics) project is a next-generation infrared space telescope optimized for mid- and far-infrared observation with a cryogenically cooled 3m-class telescope. Owing to unprecedented sensitivity and high spatial resolution, the focal plane instruments are expected to perform the confusion-limited observation. The SPICA will challenge to reveal many astronomical key issues from the star-formation history of the universe to the planetary formation. The Korean 5contribution to SPICA as an international collaboration is the development of the near-infrared instrument, FPC (Focal Plane Camera). The Korean consortium for FPC proposed a key system instrument for the purpose of a fine guiding (FPC-G) complementing the AOCS (Attitude and Orbit Control System). The back-up instrument of FPC-G, FPC-S will be responsible for the scientific observations as well. Through the international review process, we have revised the scientific programs and made the feasibility study for the fine guiding system. Here, we report the current status of SPICA/FPC project.