• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.54.2-54.2
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• 2016

Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) is the first optical survey system of its kind in a way that three KMTNet observatories are longitudinally well-separated, and thus have the benefit of 24-hour continuous monitoring of the southern sky. The wide-field and round-the-clock operation capabilities of this network facility are ideal for survey and the physical characterization of small Solar System bodies. We obtain their orbits, absolute magnitudes (H), three dimensional shape models, spin periods and spin states, activity levels based on the time-series broadband photometry. Their approximate surface mineralogy is also identified using colors and band slopes. The automated observation scheduler, the data pipeline, the dedicated computing facility, related research activity and the team members are collectively called 'DEEP-South' (DEep Ecliptic Patrol of Southern sky). DEEP-South observation is being made during the off-season for exoplanet search, yet part of the telescope time is shared in the period between when the Galactic bulge rises early in the morning and sets early in the evening. We present here the observation mode, strategy, software, test runs, early results, and the future plan of DEEP-South.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.142.1-142.1
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• 2012

During the photometric runs of the eclipsing binary V432 Per in 2006, we serendipitously discovered peculiar light variations of GSC 2855-0585 that imaged on the same target field. Its brightness decreased about 0.02 mag for about 0.15 days in all B, V, and R bands. The depth, duration, and box-shaped light curves are very similar to those of typical transiting exoplanets. We gathered the time-series data of GSC 2855-0585 from the SuperWASP public archive and detected the same light variations with a period of about 2.406 days. The period and transitlike features were confirmed by photometric follow-up observations at a predicted epoch in 2010 November. In order to estimate the mass of the companion that produced the light variations, we obtained 10 high-resolution spectra with different orbital phases in 2010 November and 2011 October-December. The radial velocities showed large variations of about 44 km/s. It indicates that the transitlike light variations do not originate from a transiting exoplanet, but from the single-lined spectroscopic eclipsing binary with a cool dwarf companion. Using the photometric and spectroscopic data, we estimated the physical parameters of the eclipsing binary GSC 2855-0585, such as orbital period, effective temperature, surface gravity, and mass.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.161-168
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• 2020

We report the discovery of a giant exoplanet in the microlensing event OGLE-2017-BLG-1049, with a planet-host star mass ratio of q = 9.53 ± 0.39 × 10-3 and a caustic crossing feature in Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) observations. The caustic crossing feature yields an angular Einstein radius of θE = 0.52 ± 0.11 mas. However, the microlens parallax is not measured because the time scale of the event, tE ≃ 29 days, is too short. Thus, we perform a Bayesian analysis to estimate physical quantities of the lens system. We find that the lens system has a star with mass Mh = 0.55+0.36-0.29 M⊙ hosting a giant planet with Mp = 5.53+3.62-2.87 MJup, at a distance of DL = 5.67+1.11-1.52 kpc. The projected star-planet separation is a⊥ = 3.92+1.10-1.32 au. This means that the planet is located beyond the snow line of the host. The relative lens-source proper motion is μrel ~ 7 mas yr-1, thus the lens and source will be separated from each other within 10 years. After this, it will be possible to measure the flux of the host star with 30 meter class telescopes and to determine its mass.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.9-26
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• 2020

At q = 1.81 ± 0.20 × 10^-5, KMT-2018-BLG-0029Lb has the lowest planet-host mass ratio q of any microlensing planet to date by more than a factor of two. Hence, it is the first planet that probes below the apparent "pile-up" at q = 5-10 ×10^-5. The event was observed by Spitzer, yielding a microlens-parallax π_E measurement. Combined with a measurement of the Einstein radius θ_E from finite-source effects during the caustic crossings, these measurements imply masses of the host M_host = 1.14^+0.10_-0.12 M_⊙ and planet M_planet = 7.59^+0.75_-0.69 M_⊕, system distance D_L = 3.38^+0.22_-0.26 kpc and projected separation a_⊥ = 4.27^+0.21_-0.23 AU. The blended light, which is substantially brighter than the microlensed source, is plausibly due to the lens and could be observed at high resolution immediately.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2018

Detecting exoplanets around giant stars sheds light on the later-stage evolution of planetary systems. We observed the M giant HD 18438 and the K giant HD 158996 as part of a Search for Exoplanets around Northern circumpolar Stars (SENS) and obtained 38 and 24 spectra from 2010 to 2017 using the high-resolution Bohyunsan Observatory Echelle Spectrograph (BOES) at the 1.8m telescope of Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory in Korea. We obtained precise RV measurements from the spectra and found long-period radial velocity (RV) variations with period 719.0 days for HD 18438 and 820.2 days for HD 158996. We checked the chromospheric activities using Ca $\text\tiny{II}$ H and $H{\alpha}$ lines, HIPPARCOS photometry and line bisectors to identify the origin of the observed RV variations. In the case of HD 18438, we conclude that the observed RV variations with period 719.0 days are likely to be caused by the pulsations because the periods of HIPPARCOS photometric and $H{\alpha}$ EW variations for HD 18438 are similar to that of RV variations in Lomb-Scargle periodogram, and there are no correlations between bisectors and RV measurements. In the case of HD 158996, on the other hand, we did not find any similarity in the respective periodograms nor any correlation between RV variations and line bisector variations. In addition, the probability that the real rotational period can be as longer than the RV period for HD 158996 is only about 4.3%. Thus we conclude that observed RV variations with a period of 820.2 days of HD 158996 are caused by a planetary companion, which has the minimum mass of 14.0 $M_{Jup}$, the semi-major axis of 2.1 AU, and eccentricity of 0.13 assuming the stellar mass of $1.8 M_{\odot}$. HD 158996 is so far one of the brightest and largest stars to harbor an exoplanet candidate.