• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.217-222
• /
• 2004

High ambient interstellar pressure is suggested as a possible factor to explain the ubiquitous ob-served growth-rate discrepancy for supernova-driven super bubbles and stellar wind bubbles. Pressures of P / k ${\~} 10^5\;cm^{-3}$ K are plausible for regions with high star formation rates, and these values are intermediate between the estimated Galactic mid-plane pressure and those observed in starburst galaxies. High-pressure components also are commonly seen in Galactic ISM localizations. We demonstrate the sensitivity of shell growth to the ambient pressure, and suggest that super bubbles ultimately might serve as ISM barometers.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.37-45
• /
• 2000

We have investigated the properties of the high-latitude cloud MBM 7 using the 3 mm transitions of CO, CS, HCN, $HCO^+,\;C_3H_2,\;N_2H^+$, and SiO. The molecular component of MBM 7 shows a very clumpy structure with a size of $\le$0.5 pc, elongated along the northwest-southeast direction, perpendicularly to an extended HI component, which could be resulted from shock formation. We have derived physical properties for two molecular cores in the central region. Their sizes are 0.1-0.3 pc and masses 1-2 M$\bigodot$ having an average volume density $\~2{\times}10^3 cm^{-3}$ at the peak of molecular emission. We have tested the stability of the cores using the full version of the virial theorem and found that the cores are stabilized with ambient medium, and they are expected not to be dissipated easily without external perturbations. Therefore MBM 7 does not seem to be a site for new star formation. The molecular abundances in the densest core appear to be much less (by about one order of magnitude) than the 'general' dark cloud values. If the depletions of heavy elements are not significant in the HLCs compared with those in typical dark clouds, our results may suggest different chemical evolutionary stages or different chemical environments of the HLCs compared with dense dark clouds in the Galactic plane.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.13-16
• /
• 2011

The $CH_3OH$ $4_2-5_1$ E transition was observed toward the Sgr B2 region, including the Principal Cloud and its surroundings. This methanol transition shows an extended emission along the 2'N cloud, which is believed to be colliding with the Principal Cloud and may trigger the massive star formation in this cloud. This extended methanol emission may also suggest that the 2'N cloud is under shocks. We derive total methanol column density $N(CH_3OH)\;=\;2.9{\pm}0.3{\times}10^{14}\;cm^{-2}$ toward the peak position of the extended emission. The fractional abundance of methanol is about 10.9, relative to the estimated total $H_2$ abundance, which is similar to the methanol abundances in quiet gas phase.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.211-216
• /
• 2004

We present the results of an H I aperture synthesis mosaic of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), made by combining data from 1344 separate pointing centers using the Australia Telescope Compact' Array (ATCA) and the Parkes multibeam receiver. The resolution of the mosaiced images is 50" (<15 pc, using a distance to the LMC of 55kpc). This mosaic, with a spatial resolution .15 times higher than that which had been previously obtained, emphasises the turbulent and fractal structure of the ISM on the small scale, resulting from the dynamical feedback of the star formation processes with the ISM. We also have done a widefield panoramic survey of H$\alpha$ emission from the Magellanic Clouds with an imager mounted on the 16-inch telescope at Siding Spring Observatory. This survey produced H$\alpha$ images which are equal to the ATCA survey in area coverage and resolution. This survey allows us to produce a continuum-subtracted image of the entire LMC. In contrast with its appearance in the H$\alpha$ image, the LMC is remarkably symmetric in H I on the largest scales, with the bulk of the H I residing in a disk of diameter 8. $^{\circ}4$ (7.3 kpc) and a spiral structure is clearly seen. The structure of the neutral atomic ISM in the LMC is dominated by H I filaments combined with numerous shells and holes.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.40 no.1
• /
• pp.48.2-48.2
• /
• 2015

van Dokkum and Conroy revisited the strong Na I lines at $8200{\AA}$ found in some giant elliptical galaxies and interpreted it as evidence for bottom-heavy initial mass function. Jeong et al. later found a lot of galaxies showing strong Na D doublet absorption line at $5900{\AA}$ (Na D excess objects; a.k.a. NEOs) and showed that their origins can be different for different types of galaxies. While the excess in Na D seems related with interstellar medium in late-type galaxies, smooth-looking early-type NEOs suggest no compelling sign of ISM contributions. To test this finding, we measured doppler shift in the Na D line. We hypothesized that ISM is more likely to show blueshift due to outflow caused by either star formation or AGN activities. In order to measure the doppler shift, we tried both Gaussian and Voigt functions to fit each galaxy spectrum near the Na D line. We found that Voigt profiles reproduce the shapes of the Na D lines markedly better. Many of late-type NEOs clearly show blueshift in their Na D lines, which is consistent with the former interpretation that the Na D excess found in them is related with star formation-caused gas outflow. On the contrary, early-type NEOs do not show any notable doppler component, which is also consistent with the interpretation of Jeong et al. that the Na D excess in early-type NEOs is likely not related with ISM activities but purely stellar in origin.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.15-20
• /
• 2001

We observed the thermal transitions of SiO (J=I-0, 2-1) and $^{29}SiO$ (J=l-O) toward the Sgr A molecular clouds. The distribution and the velocity structure of SiO are very similar to previous results for 'quiet' interstellar molecules. We think· that the SiO has been well mixed with other molecules such as $H_2$ which may indicate that the formation of Sgr A molecular clouds was affected by the activities, such as shock waves or energetic photons, from the Galactic center in large scales. The total column density of SiO is about $4.1\times10^{14} cm^{-2}$ and the fractional abundance $SiO/H_2$ appears to be about 10 times larger than those of other clouds in the central region of our galaxy. The derived values are thought to be lower limits since the optical depths of the observed SiO lines are not very thin. The formation of SiO has been known to be critically related to shocks, and our results provide informative data on the environment of our Galactic center.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.9-17
• /
• 2006

In an attempt to investigate star formation activity and statistical properties of clumps of high Galactic latitude clouds (HLCs), we mapped the Polaris Flare region, PF121.3+25.5, in $^{12}CO\;and\;^{13}CO$ J = 1 - 0 using SRAO 6-m telescope and also observed its 12 $^{13}CO$ peak positions in CS J = 2 - 1 with TRAO 14-m telescope. $^{13}CO$ integrated intensity map shows clearly its clumpy structure and the locations of clumps well agree with $^{12}CO$morphology. CS line is not detected toward the 12 $^{13}CO$ peak positions, so we can conclude there are no dense $(\sim10^4\;cm^{-3})$ in this region. We decomposed 105 clumps from $^{13}CO$ map using GAUSSCLUMPS algorithm. The mass of clumps ranges from $7.8\;M_{\odot}\;to\;7.4{\times}10^{-2}\;M_{\odot}$ with a total mass of $66.4\;M_{\odot}$ The mass spectrum follows a power law, dN/dM ${\propto}\;M^{-\alpha}$ with a power index of ${\alpha}=1.91{\pm}0.13$. The virial masses of clumps are in the range of $10{\sim}100M_{LTE}$ and so these clumps are considered to be gravitationally unbound.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.137-140
• /
• 2007

Triggered star formation is not a new idea - it's been around for at least the last 30 years. Although it has never disappeared from the scene, it seems to be enjoying something of a renaissance in recent years, in both observational and theoretical studies. Here we give a brief discussion of the background of triggered star formation, describe some of our own recent observational efforts in this regard, and briefly mention some initial conclusions that may be drawn.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.83-88
• /
• 2019

Using ALMA observations of the $^{13}CN$ and DCN lines in the massive star-forming region G33.92+0.11A, we investigate the CN/HCN abundance ratio, which serves as a tracer of photodissociation chemistry, over the whole observed region. Even considering the uncertainties in calculating the abundance ratio, we find high ratios (${\gg}1$) in large parts of the source, especially in the outer regions of star-forming clumps A1, A2, and A5. Regions with high CN/HCN ratios coincide with the inflows of accreted gas suggested by Liu et al. (2015). We conclude that we found strong evidence for interaction between the dense gas clumps and the accreted ambient gas which may have sequentially triggered the star formation in these clumps.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.257-260
• /
• 2005

We have mapped the W 3 giant molecular cloud in the $C^o\;^3P_1-^3 P_o$ ([CI]) line with the Mount Fuji Submillimeter-wave Telescope. The [CI] emission is extended over the molecular cloud, having peaks at three star forming clouds; W 3(Main), W 3(OH), and AFGL 333. The [CI] emission is found to be strong in the AFGL 333 cloud. We have also observed the $C^{18}O,\;CCS,\;N_2H^+$, and $H^{13}CO^+$ lines by using the Nobeyama Radio Observatory 45 m telescope. In the AFGL 333 cloud, we find two massive cores, which are highly gravitationally bound and have no sign of active star formation. The high [$C^o$]/[CO] and [CCS]/[$N_2H^+$] abundance ratios suggest that the AFGL 333 cloud is younger than the W 3(Main) and W 3(OH) clouds.