• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.32.2-32.2
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• 2020

Massive Compact Elliptical Galaxies (MCEGs) found in the local universe are as massive as normal galaxies but extremely compact (M∗ > 1011 Msun, Reff < 1.5 kpc). They are considered to be the relics of red nugget galaxies found at high redshift. They are not likely to have undergone many mergers, keeping their original mass and size. Moreover, it is expected that they host a dominant population of red (metal-rich) globular clusters rather than blue (metal-poor) ones. Indeed, Beasley et al. (2018) found that the color distribution of the cluster system of NGC 1277 is unimodal, showing only a red population. However, NGC 1277 is the only case whose cluster system was studied among MCEGs. In this study, we investigate globular cluster systems of 14 nearby MCEGs with a homogeneous data set of HST/WFC3 F814W/F160W archive images. We detect tens to hundreds of globular clusters in each galaxy and examine their color distributions. Surprisingly, the fractions of red globular clusters are similar to those of normal galaxies, and are much lower than that of NGC 1277. We additionally obtain Gemini/GMOS-N g'r'i' images of PGC 70520, one of the 14 nearby MCEGs, to detect more globular clusters from deeper and wider images. We will discuss the results from the Gemini data combined with the results from the HST data in relation with the formation of MCEGs.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.195-200
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• 2011

We have revisited the ACS Virgo Cluster Survey (ACSVCS), a Hubble Space Telescope program to obtain ACS/WFC g and z bands imaging for a sample of 100 early-type galaxies in the Virgo Cluster. In this study, we examine 51 nucleated early-type galaxies in the ACSVCS in order to look into the relationship between the photometric and structural properties of stellar nuclei and their host galaxies. We morphologically dissect galaxies into five classes. We note that (1) the stellar nuclei of dwarf early-type galaxies (dS0, dE, and dE,N) are generally fainter and bluer with g > 18.95 and (g-z) < 1.40 compared to some brighter and redder counterparts of the ellipticals (E) and lenticular galaxies (S0), (2) the g-band half-light radii of stellar nuclei of all dwarf early-type galaxies (dS0, dE, and dE,N) are smaller than 20 pc and their average is about 4 pc, and (3) the colors of red stellar nuclei with (g - z) > 1.40 in bright ellipticals and lenticular galaxies are bluer than their host galaxies colors. We also show that most of the unusually "red" stellar nuclei with (g-z) > 1.54 in the ACSVCS are the central parts of bright ellipticals and lenticular galaxies. Furthermore, we present multi photometric band color - color plots that can be used to break the age-metallicity degeneracy particularly by inclusion of the thermally pulsing-asymptotic giant branch (TP-AGB) phases of stellar evolution in the stellar population models.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.38.2-38.2
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• 2010

We present ultraviolet (UV) color-magnitude relations (CMRs) of early-type dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster, based on Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) UV and Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) optical imaging data. We find that dwarf lenticular galaxies (dS0s), including peculiar dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs) with disk substructures and blue centers, show a surprisingly distinct and tight locus separated from that of ordinary dEs, which is not clearly seen in previous CMRs. The dS0s in UV CMRs follow a steeper sequence than dEs and show bluer UV-optical color at a given magnitude. We also find that the UV CMRs of dEs in the outer cluster region are slightly steeper than that of their counterparts in the inner region, due to the existence of faint, blue dEs in the outer region. We explore the observed CMRs with population models of a luminosity-dependent delayed exponential star formation history. We confirm that the feature of delayed star formation of early-type dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster is strongly correlated with their morphology and environment. The observed CMR of dS0s is well matched by models with relatively long delayed star formation. Our results suggest that dS0s are most likely transitional objects at the stage of subsequent transformation of late-type progenitors to ordinary red dEs in the cluster environment, In any case, UV photometry provides a powerful tool to disentangle the diverse subpopulations of early-type dwarf galaxies and uncover their evolutionary histories.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.40.1-40.1
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• 2010

We present the ultraviolet (UV) properties of early type galaxies (ETGs) in clusters. We obtained a cluster catalogue from Yoon et al.(2008) based on Sloan Digital Sky Survey(SDSS) DR5 in the redshift range of 0.05 < z <0.10. After matching sample galaxies in clusters with Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) GR5, we have classified the morphologies of ETGs by UV-optical colour distributions and investigated them in terms of the ranks in magnitude in a cluster and in clustocentric distance. It has recently been suggested theoretically that brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) show a strong UV upturn than non-BCGs, but we find that the difference between them is not significant. Moreover, to our surprise, it appears that density (environment) does not play any significant role to the UV properties. consequent of internal galaxy processes rather than that of environmental processes.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.62.2-62.2
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• 2020

Globular clusters(GCs) are found not only around galaxies (galaxy GCs), but also between galaxies in galaxy clusters (intracluster GCs; ICGCs). The ICGCs, which are not bound to any of cluster member galaxies, are governed by the galaxy clutster potential. ICGCs have been detected in the wide field of Virgo and Fornax galaxy clusters. However, previous surveys covered only a small fraction of Coma and Perseus. In this study we present a wide field survey of these two galaxy clusters, using Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam(HSC) archival images, covering a circular field with diameter of ~1.8 deg. We select ICGC candidates, by masking the images of bright galaxies and choosing point sources in the remaining area. We find thousands of ICGCs in each galaxy cluster. These ICGCs show a bimodal color distribution, which is dominated by blue GCs. We investigate spatial distributions and radial number density profiles of the blue and red ICGCs in each galaxy cluster. Implications of the results will be discussed.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.33.2-33.2
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• 2021

To study environmental effects on the circumgalactic medium (CGM), we use the samples of redMaPPer galaxy clusters, background quasars and cluster galaxies from the SDSS. With 82,000 quasar spectra, we detect 197 MgII absorbers in and around the clusters. The detection rate per quasar is 2.70 times higher inside the clusters than outside the clusters, indicating that MgII absorbers are relatively abundant in clusters. However, when considering the galaxy number density, the absorber-to-galaxy ratio is rather low inside the clusters. If we assume that MgII absorbers are mainly contributed by the CGM of massive star-forming galaxies, a typical halo size of cluster galaxies is smaller than that of field galaxies by 30 per cent. This finding supports that galaxy haloes can be truncated by interaction with the host cluster.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.43.2-43.2
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• 2021

Ram-pressure stripping (RPS) is known as the main driver of quenching the star formation (SF) activity in cluster galaxies. However, galaxies undergoing RPS in galaxy clusters often show blue star-forming knots in their disturbed disks and tails. The existence of these "jellyfish galaxies" implies that RPS can temporarily boost the SF activity of cluster galaxies. Thus, jellyfish galaxies are very unique and interesting targets to study the influence of RPS on their SF activity, in particular with integral field spectroscopy (IFS). While there have been many IFS studies of jellyfish galaxies in low-mass clusters (e.g., the GASP survey), IFS studies of those in massive clusters have been lacking. We present an IFS study of five jellyfish galaxies in massive clusters at intermediate redshifts using the Gemini GMOS/IFU. Their star formation rates (SFRs) are estimated to be up to 15 Mo/yr in the tails and 50 Mo/yr in the disks. These SFRs are by a factor of 10 higher than those of star-forming galaxies on the main sequence in the M*-SFR relation at similar redshifts. Our results suggest that the SF activity of jellyfish galaxies tends to be more enhanced in massive clusters than in low-mass clusters. This implies that strong RPS in massive clusters can trigger strong starbursts.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.55.2-55.2
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• 2014

Role of environments is one of today's most widely discussed and debated topic in the field of extra-galactic astronomy. Extreme morphology-density relations found in low-mass galaxies are considered to be the result of an effective role played by environment in the evolution of these galaxies. I will present the results from our dedicated study of early-type dwarf galaxies (dEs) in different environments using imaging and spectroscopic data. We find that Virgo cluster dEs have a variety of structural and kinematic properties. A significant fraction of dEs possesses disk features, such as spiral arm and bar, while a central nucleus seems to be universal in these low mass galaxies. We also find that a majority of dEs are fast rotator and their rotation curves are much steeper than that of spiral galaxies of similar mass. Finally I will discuss how the different environmental mechanisms, i.e., gas-stripping or tidal interaction, can contribute to form heterogeneous dEs in Virgo cluster.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.33.1-33.1
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• 2016

Dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs), the most abundant galaxy type in clusters, were recently shown to exhibit a wide variety in their properties. Particularly, the presence of blue cores in some dEs, what we call dE(bc), supports the scenario of late-type galaxy infall and subsequent transformation into red, quiescent dEs. While several transformation mechanisms for these dE(bc)s within cluster environment have been proposed, all these processes are able to explain only some of the observational properties of dEs. In this context, internal kinematic properties of dE(bc)s provide the most crucial evidence to discriminate different processes for the formation of these galaxies. We present Gemini Multi Object Spectrograph (GMOS) long-slit spectroscopy of two dE(bc)s in the Virgo cluster. We obtained radial profiles of velocity and velocity dispersion out to ~1.3 effective radius. We found that two dE(bc)s exhibit kinematically decoupled components as well as distinct peculiar features in velocity profiles, supporting the scenario of mergers. We also found that these galaxies are structurally compatible with low surface brightness component of blue compact dwarf galaxies. We suggest that a part of dE(bc)s in the Virgo Cluster were formed through galaxy merger in low density environment such as galaxy group or outskirt of the cluster, and then were quenched by subsequent effects within cluster environment.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.57.1-57.1
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• 2011

It has been suggested that merging plays an important role in the formation and the evolution of early-type galaxies (ETGs). Optical-NIR color gradients of ETGs in high density environments are found to be less steep than those of ETGs in low density environments, hinting frequent merger activities in ETGs in high density environments. In order to examine if the flat color gradients are the result of dry mergers, we studied the relations between merging features, color gradient, and environments of 281 low redshift ETGs selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Stripe82. The sample contains 222 relaxed ETGs, 38 ETGs with tidal features, 10 galaxies with dust features and 11 galaxies with tidal and dust features, and Near Infrared (NIR) images are taken from UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS) Large Area Survey (LAS). We find that r-K color gradients of field sample galaxies are steeper than those of sample ETGs within cluster environments. For the field sample galaxies, a relatively large number of galaxies with peculiar features contribute to the steeper color gradients, while the absence of these peculiar early-type galaxies make color gradients of the cluster sample galaxies intact. In high density environment, ETGs are already evolved and relaxed, resulting flat color gradients. However, in low density environments, a majority of ETGs undergone merging recently which makes the color gradients steep.