• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.49.1-49.1
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• 2017

In order to investigate the origin of multiple stellar populations in the halo and bulge of the Milky Way, we have constructed chemical evolution models for the low-mass proto-Galactic subsystems such as globular clusters (GCs). Unlike previous studies, we assume that supernova blast waves undergo blowout without expelling the pre-enriched gas, while relatively slow winds of massive stars, together with the winds and ejecta from low and intermediate mass asymptotic giant branch stars, are all locally retained in these less massive systems. We first applied these models to investigate the origin of super-helium-rich red clump stars in the metal-rich bulge as recently suggested by Lee et al. (2015). We find that chemical enrichments by the winds of massive stars can naturally reproduce the required helium enhancement (dY/dZ = 6) for the second generation stars. Disruption of these "building blocks" in a hierarchical merging paradigm would have provided helium enhanced stars to the bulge field. Interestingly, we also find that the observed Na-O anticorrelation in metal-poor GCs can be reproduced, when multiple episodes of starbursts are allowed to continue in these subsystems. Specific star formation history with decreasing time intervals between the stellar generations, however, is required to obtain this result, as would be expected from the orbital evolution of these subsystems in a proto-Galaxy. The "mass budget problem" is also much alleviated by our models without ad-hoc assumptions on star formation efficiency and initial mass function.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.46.1-46.1
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• 2018

In order to investigate the origin of multiple stellar populations in the halo and bulge of the Milky Way, we have constructed chemical evolution models for the low-mass proto-Galactic subsystems such as globular clusters. Unlike previous studies, we assume that supernova blast waves undergo blowout without expelling the pre-enriched gas, while relatively slow winds of massive stars, together with the winds and ejecta from low and intermediate mass asymptotic-giant-branch stars, are all locally retained in these less massive systems. We find that the observed Na-O anti-correlations in metal-poor GCs can be reproduced when multiple episodes of starbursts are allowed to continue in these subsystems. A specific form of star formation history with decreasing time intervals between the stellar generations, however, is required to obtain this result, which is in good agreement with the parameters obtained from our stellar evolution models for the horizontal-branch. The "mass budget problem" is also much alleviated by our models without ad-hoc assumptions on star formation efficiency and initial mass function. We also applied these models to investigate the origin of super helium-rich red clump stars in the metal-rich bulge as recently suggested by Lee et al. (2015). We find that chemical enrichments by the winds of massive stars can naturally reproduce the required helium enhancement (dY/dZ = 6) for the second-generation stars. Disruption of proto-globular clusters in a hierarchical merging paradigm would have provided helium enhanced stars to the bulge field.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.142.2-142.2
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• 2011

Hydrodynamic simulations of gas clouds in the central hundred parsecs region of the Milky Way that is modeled with a three-dimensional bar potential are presented. Our simulations consider realistic gas cooling and heating, star formation, and supernova feedback. A ring of dense gas clouds forms as a result of $X_1-X_2$ orbit transfer, and our potential model results in a ring radius of ~200 pc, which coincides with the extraordinary reservoir of dense molecular clouds in the inner bulge, the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ). The gas clouds accumulated in the CMZ can reach high enough densities to form stars, and with an appropriate choice of simulation parameters, we successfully reproduce the observed gas mass and the star formation rate (SFR) in the CMZ, ${\sim}2{\times}10^7\;M_{\odot}$ and ${\sim}0.1\;M_{\odot}/yr$. Star formation in our simulations takes place mostly in the outermost $X_2$ orbits, and the SFR per unit surface area outside the CMZ is much lower. These facts suggest that the inner Galactic bulge may harbor a mild version of the nuclear star-forming rings seen in some external disk galaxies. We also find that the stellar population resulting from sustained star formation in the CMZ would be enlogated perpendicularly to the main bar, and this "inner bar" can migrate the gas in the CMZ further down to the central parsecs region.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.38.1-38.1
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• 2014

A non-axisymmetric mass distribution in the galactic bulge (or bar) causes gas flow from the disk to the nuclear region, inducing intense star formation in the nucleus. We investigate the relation between the ellipticity of the bulge and the presence of a nuclear starburst by using a volume-limited sample of galaxies. We use 1,680 spiral galaxies with Mr < -19.5 at 0.02 <= z < 0.05 in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. We find that the occurrence of nuclear starburst has a moderate correlation with bulge ellipticity in intermediate-type spiral galaxies (morphology classes Sab~Sb) in low galaxy number density environments. In high galaxy number density environments, close encounters and mergers between galaxies can cause gas inflow to the nuclear region even without the presence of non-axisymmetric bulges.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.153-158
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• 2014

I show that the standard microlensing technique to measure the angular radius of a star using color/surface-brightness relations can be inverted, via late-time proper motion measurements, to calibrate these relations. The method is especially useful for very metal-rich stars because such stars are in short supply in the solar neighborhood where other methods are most effective, but very abundant in Galactic bulge microlensing fields. I provide a list of eight spectroscopically identified high-metallicity bulge stars with the requisite finite-source effects, seven of which will be suitable calibrators when the Giant Magellan Telescope comes on line. Many more such sources can be extracted from current and future microlensing surveys.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.68.4-68.4
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• 2019

It is inferred that many stars in the Galactic halo or bulge were once members of globular clusters (GCs), which are now dissolved. To distinguish the GC-originated stars, which can provide valuable information on the origin of the bulge and halo, from the in situ field stars, the Na abundance plays an important role. However, the interstellar Na in certain directions can unnecessarily enhance the estimate of the Na abundance from stellar spectra due to blended Na D lines unless the spectral resolution is very high, which allows to resolve the lines from the interstellar Na. In this study, we present a means of correcting the Na abundance affected by the interstellar Na in the low-resolution of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey stellar spectra.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.57-69
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• 2019

We present an analysis of the chemical abundances and kinematics of six low-mass dwarf stars, previously claimed to be candidate hypervelocity stars (HVSs). We obtained moderate-resolution (R ~ 6000) spectra of these stars to estimate the abundances of several chemical elements (Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, and Ni), and derived their space velocities and orbital parameters using proper motions from the Gaia Data Release 2. All six stars are shown to be bound to the Milky Way, and in fact are not even considered high-velocity stars with respect to the Galactic rest frame. Nevertheless, we attempt to characterize their parent Galactic stellar components by simultaneously comparing their element abundance patterns and orbital parameters with those expected from various Galactic stellar components. We find that two of our program stars are typical disk stars. For four stars, even though their kinematic probabilistic membership assignment suggests membership in the Galactic disk, based on their distinct orbital properties and chemical characteristics, we cannot rule out exotic origins as follows. Two stars may be runaway stars from the Galactic disk. One star has possibly been accreted from a disrupted dwarf galaxy or dynamically heated from a birthplace in the Galactic bulge. The last object may be either a runaway disk star or has been dynamically heated. Spectroscopic follow-up observations with higher resolution for these curious objects will provide a better understanding of their origin.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.80.3-81
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• 2015

Globular clusters (GCs) are known to have a very small amount of or no dark matter (DM). Several studies propose that GCs may have formed in individual dark halos. Thus, some of the current GCs might have a non-negligible DM content. Using the Fokker-Planck (FP) calculations, we investigate the dynamical evolution of the Galactic GCs residing in mini DM halo. We trace the initial amount of DM of 47 Tuc, NGC 1851, and M15, which is a 'disk/bulge' cluster, an 'old halo' cluster, and a 'young halo' cluster, respectively. We find that the three GCs have initially insignificant amounts of DM, less than 20 percent of the initial stellar mass of the each cluster.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.133-140
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• 2000

From the VI images of M13, obtained by using 2K CCD camera and the BOAO 1.8m telescope, we derive the(V - I) - V CMD of M13. From the shapes of red giant branch, the magnitude of horizontal branch, and the giant branch bump on the constructed CMD, we determined the metallicity of the globular cluster to be 1.74${\lesssim}$[Fe/H]${\lesssim}$-1.41. The good agreement between our determination of [Fe/H] and those determined by using other methods implies that the morphology of red giant and horizontal branches on (V - I) - V CMD's can be good indirect metallicity indicators of Galactic globular clusters.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.55.1-55.1
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• 2006