• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• 제6권2호
• /
• pp.127-135
• /
• 1989

연세대학교 천문대의 60cm와 40cm 반사망원경을 이용하여 1982년 4월 부터 1985년 5월까지 Epsilon Aurigae를 UBV 관전측광하여 총 1065 관측점을 얻었다. 우리의 광도곡선에 다른 천문대들의 관측자료를 합하여 제1극심의 광도곡선을 완성하였다. 이 광도곡선에서 2차적인 광도변화, 폭발현상, 식중심의 밝아짐 등에 관하여 자세히 조사하고, 제1그심의 각 접촉시각들과 중심식 시각을 결졍하여 다른 연국자들이 정한 값들과 비교하였다. 과거의 식들에서 구한 값들과 비교한 결과, 식이 일어나는 전체기간은 계속 감소하는 반면 완전식의 기간은 계속 증가하였다. 현재 가장 널리 통용되는 디스크 모델에 위의 여러 현상들을 적용하여 보았으나 명확히 설명되지 않았다. 그래서 새로운 모델인 혜성 모델을 만들어 광도곡선에 나타난 현상들을 해석하여 보았다.

• 천문학회보
• /
• 제44권2호
• /
• pp.60.4-60.4
• /
• 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.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• 제29권2호
• /
• pp.209-220
• /
• 2012

This paper will introduce and overview in general the $Seongbyeon$ $Deungrok$ issued by the Gwansang-gam, the Astronomical Board in the Joseon Dynasty of Korea. All the Chinese characters in the 1668 $Seongbyeon$ $Deungrok$ was deciphered at first and these were translated into Korean and English. With these translations and the word 'white vapor' in particular we discuss the nature of the main object in this $Deungrok$. Lastly, names of observers who engaged in the observations of this 1668 celestial, which are made as a by-product of this research, are introduced.

• 천문학회보
• /
• 제41권1호
• /
• pp.48.1-48.1
• /
• 2016

Polarimetric study of light scattering from cometary dust particles can provide us opportunity to decipher their characteristics, such as sizes, structures, compositions of dust grains, etc. Herein, we present the results of our polarimetric study of long-period comet, C/2013 US10 (Catalina), in optical and near-infrared wavelengths which appeared at large phase angle (52.7 degrees) around the mid-December, 2015. We performed polarimetric and spectroscopic observations with HONIR, attached to the 1.5-m telescope at Higashi-Hiroshima Observatory, on UT 2015 December 17-18 and also obtained optical imaging data sets by the Ishigakijima Astronomical Observatory (IAO) and Okayama Astrophysical Observatory (OAO) taken between 2014-2015. By measuring the intensities of gas emission lines with respect to dust continuum and considering transmittance of each filter, we estimated that the percentages of gas contamination are approximately 10 percents in $R_C$-band and 3 percents in $I_C$-band. With these results, we derive the degree of linear polarization scattered solely from dust components in the coma. At this presentation, we will compare the phase-angle dependence of the degree of linear polarization with those of previous archive data in a wide coverage of wavelengths from $R_C$-band to $K_S$-band. Finally, we are supposed to discuss the spatial variations in polarization within the coma.

• 천문학회보
• /
• 제40권2호
• /
• pp.44.3-45
• /
• 2015

The 2007 event occurred at 17P/Holmes is known as the most energetic cometary outburst in the history of modern astronomical observations. At this conference, we report our new observation of the comet one orbital period after the event. We thus made the observation of 17P/Holmes in 2014 September using the Kiso Wide Field Camera (KWFC) attached to the 105 cm Schmidt telescope at the Kiso Observatory. It is known that dust particles are thought to converge on the orbital plane of the parent body at the opposite end of the dust ejection viewed from the Sun. Similar phenomenon occurs when dust particles complete one orbital revolution (what we call, neck-line structures). We succeeded in the detection of the dust ejecta of the 2007 outburst by means of the neck-line. With the image, we plan to discuss the ejection velocity and the total mass of the ejecta to deepen our understanding of the historical event.

• 천문학논총
• /
• 제33권3호
• /
• pp.31-44
• /
• 2018

Song, I-Yeong (1619 ~ ?) was an active astronomer in the Joseon dynasty at the era of adopting the Shixian-li, Chinese calendar in Qing dynasty. His astronomical contribution was recorded in Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, Diary of the Royal Secretariat, Comparative Review of Records and Documents-Its Revision and Enlargement, and Treatise on the Bureau of Astronomy. In addition the details on his life and works were found at the genealogies of the Song Family from Yeonan and the Kim Family from Seonsan. His major astronomical activities can be summarized in three items. First, as a specialist astronomer, he has attempted to make a systematic observation of two comets. Second, he designed and fabricated the Jamyeong-jong, the weight-powered armillary clock, which became a typical model of the astronomical clock in the Joseon dynasty. Last, he served as a royal astronomical professor, greatly contributing on implementing the Shixian-li. Song has concentrated on performing astronomical duties for his royal official service time. Song is regarded as an important astronomer who made it possible to enforce the Shixian-li until the late Joseon dynasty.

• 천문학논총
• /
• 제14권1호
• /
• pp.33-37
• /
• 1999

We have constructed a synthetic spectrum of the 2.5 micron $C_2H$ bands and compared them with diminutive structures in the near-infrared spectra of Comets P/Halley and West (1976 VI). We found that the Q branches of the $C_2H$ bands coincide with two small emission peaks in the spectra of the comets. We undertook Monte Carlo simulations using observed emission intensities of $C_2$ and possibly $C_2H$ in Comet P/Halley in order to derive a lifetime range of $C_2H$ and a production rate at the time of observations of P/Halley. We obtained a $C_2H$ production rate of $1\times10^{27}\;sec^{-1}$ for P/Halley on December 20, 1985, assuming the 2.5 micron features are due to $C_2H$. We derived a very short lifetime (<100 seconds) of $C_2H$ at 1AU heliocentric distance, assuming that the only parent molecule for $C_2H$ and $C_2$ is $C_2H$. Using this short lifetime we were unable to fit our $C_2$ distribution model to $C_2$ distribution curves observed by O'Dell et al.(1988), because our curve shows a steep slope compared with the observed one. We conclude that there must be significant additional source(s) for $C_2H$ and $C_2$ other than $C_2H_2$.

• 천문학회보
• /
• 제44권1호
• /
• pp.63.3-63.3
• /
• 2019

Active asteroids are celestial bodies that distinctively have asteroid-like orbital elements but show comet-like activity. They exhibit the activities due to the sublimation of volatile ices, impacts with small objects or break-up by rapid rotations. As of 2019 February, 30 active asteroids are detected in the outer main belt (i.e., the semimajor axes a>2.5 au) while only 3 of them in the inner main belt (a<2.5 au), suggesting that sublimation of remaining icy volatiles can be one of the most fundamental mechanisms for the activities. A sudden activity of (6478) Gault was reported in early 2019. The asteroid was discovered in 1988 and has exhibited its inactive appearance until the end of last year. Soon after the report, we have conducted imaging observations using the Seoul National University Observatory 1.0-m telescope and the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) to monitor the activity. The observed images showed a primary dust tail that consists of dust grains ejected early November in 2018. Later, another tail developed, indicating further dust ejection occurred around late December 2018. Our model simulation to reproduce the morphology of the dust cloud suggests that the slightly-curved primary dust tail results from a continuous dust ejection over weeks. The total mass of ejecta was estimated to XX kg (XX% of the asteroid mass). Such continuous dust ejection for the inner active asteroids was unexpected because ice might have already sublimated from subsurfaces of inner main belt. Based on our observational evidence, we will discuss how inner asteroids are activated and eject dust continuously.