• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.89-89
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• 2014

While the current consensus view holds that galaxy mergers are commonplace, it is sometimes speculated that Globular Clusters (GCs) may also have undergone merging events, possibly resulting in massive objects with a strong metallicity spread such as Omega Centauri. Galaxies are mostly far, unresolved systems whose mergers are most likely wet, resulting in observational as well as modeling difficulties, but GCs are resolved into stars that can be used as discrete dynamical tracers, and their mergers might have been dry, therefore easily simulated with an N-body code. It is however difficult to determine the observational parameters best suited to reveal a history of merging based on the positions and kinematics of GC stars, if evidence of merging is at all observable. To overcome this difficulty, we investigate the applicability of supervised and unsupervised machine learning to the automatic reconstruction of the dynamical history of a stellar system. In particular we test whether statistical clustering methods can classify simulated systems into monolithic versus merger products. We run direct N-body simulations of two identical King-model clusters undergoing a head-on collision resulting in a merged system, and other simulations of isolated King models with the same total number of particles as the merged system. After several relaxation times elapse, we extract a sample of snapshots of the sky-projected positions of particles from each simulation at different dynamical times, and we run a variety of clustering and classification algorithms to classify the snapshots into two subsets in a relevant feature space.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.31.2-31.2
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• 2012

We present the Yonsei Evolutionary Population Synthesis (YEPS) models for spectroscopic and photometric evolutions of simple and composite stellar populations. The models are based on the most up-to-date Yonsei-Yale stellar evolutionary tracks and BaSel 3.1 flux libraries, and provide integrated spectroscopic quantities of Lick/IDS system including high-order Balmer absorption-lines. Special care has been taken to incorporate the systematic variation of horizontal branch (HB) morphology as functions of metallicity, age, alpha-element mixture, and helium abundance of simple stellar populations. Our models for normal-helium stellar populations indicate that the realistic modeling of HB and alpha-element brings about 5 Gyr and 0.1 dex differences in age and metallicity estimations, respectively, compared to those without these effects. The HB effect does not depend on the specific choice of stellar libraries and alpha-element enhancements, and this effect is non-negligible even in the metal sensitive absorption indices, such as Mg2 and Mg b. Comparison of the models to observations reveals that the HB and alpha-element effects are critical in understanding otherwise inexplicable phenomena found in globular cluster systems in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, including the observed bimodality of the line strengths of globular clusters in massive galaxies. In addition, we found that helium-enhanced stellar populations, which are the major sources of extreme HB stars, bring about increased FUV, NUV fluxes, and thus the model colors of those filters become extremely blue. Age dating based on the YEPS model with normal-helium stellar populations reveals that the evidence for 'downsizing' of elliptical galaxies is found not only in the local field but also in Coma cluster, and that the mean age of elliptical galaxies in Coma cluster is about 1.4 Gyr younger than the mean age of those in the local field. We also find that our models with helium-enhanced subpopulations can naturally reproduce the strong UV-upturns observed in giant elliptical galaxies assuming an age similar to that of old GCs in the Milky Way.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.30.2-30.2
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• 2013

The mean color of globular cluster (GCs) systems in early-type galaxies (ETGs) is, in general, bluer than the integrated color of field stars in their host galaxies. Recently, Goudfrooij & Kruijssen (2013) reported that even red GCs in the ETGs show bluer colors than their host field stars and suggested the different initial mass function (IMF) for red GCs and field stars to explain the observed offset in color. Here we suggest an alternative scenario that explains the observed color offsets between red GCs in ETGs and the field stars in the parent galaxies without invoking to the variation of the IMF. We find that the inclusion of second-generation (SG) helium-enhanced populations in the model fully explains the observed color offset between red GCs and field stars in the host galaxies. We have also tested the effect of the IMF slope on our models, but the effect is relatively small compared to the effect of the SG population. Our new model suggests that, in order to explain far-UV strong metal-rich GCs in M87 and the observed color offset between metal-rich GCs and the field stars in ETGs simultaneously, the inclusion of the SG populations with enhanced helium abundance is a more natural solution than the model that only adopted variations in the IMF.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.29.4-30
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• 2008

We present elemental abundances of 12 red giants obtained with the BOAO 1.8m telescope and its fiber-fed echelle spectrograph. We perform the abundance analysis using the Kurucz model atmosphere and MOOG. Comparisons of our alpha- and neutron-capture elemental abundances and those in globular clusters and nearby dwarf galaxies will be presented.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-58
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• 1998

The $H{\beta}$ and some metal line indices, such as Mg2, Fe52 of single-age and single-metallicity populations are computed based on the method of evolutionary population synthesis, with careful consideration of the variation of the horizontal-branch morphology with metallicity and age. We find (a) that while metal lines are little af-fected, the $H{\beta}$ index is severely enhanced (up to 30%)by the presence of the blue horizontal-branch stars, frustrating the current age-estimations from this index with out careful consideration of these stars, and (b) that there is a systematic trend in the sense that the globular clusters in giant elliptical galaxies appear to be older than those in our Galaxy by several billion years. We also calculate these indices for the stellar populations with a metallicity spread, by adopting metallicity distribution functions predicted by chemical evolution models. The comparison of the models with the observed indices of the central regions of the early-type galaxies yields the results (a) that the ages of the giant elliptical galaxies would be older than the previous estimations by several billion years, and (b) that there is a considerable age spread among elliptical galaxies, in the sense that the giant elliptical galaxies are older than small ones.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.67.2-67.2
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• 2014

The presence of multiple populations is now well-established in most globular clusters in the Milky Way. In light of this progress, here we suggest a new model explaining the origin of the Sandage period-shift and the difference in mean period of type ab RR Lyrae variables between the two Oosterhoff groups. In our models, the instability strip in the metal-poor group II clusters, such as M15, is populated by second generation stars (G2) with enhanced helium and CNO abundances, while the RR Lyraes in the relatively metal-rich group I clusters like M3 are mostly produced by first generation stars (G1) without these enhancements. This population shift within the instability strip with metallicity can create the observed period-shift between the two groups, since both helium and CNO abundances play a role in increasing the period of RR Lyrae variables. The presence of more metal-rich clusters having Oosterhoff-intermediate characteristics, such as NGC 1851, as well as of most metal-rich clusters having RR Lyraes with longest periods (group III) can also be reproduced, as more helium-rich third and later generations of stars (G3) penetrate into the instability strip with further increase in metallicity. Therefore, although there are systems where the suggested population shift cannot be a viable explanation, for the most general cases, our models predict that the RR Lyraes are produced mostly by G1, G2, and G3, respectively, for the Oosterhoff groups I, II, and III.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.50.1-50.1
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• 2015

The origin of globular cluster (GC) color bimodality, which is one of the salient phenomena observed in most large galaxies, has not yet been fully resolved. The phenomenon has conventionally been interpreted as a bimodal metallicity distribution based on an assumption of linear GC color-metallicity relations (CMRs). Recent studies however suggest that nonlinear GC CMRs can cause a bimodal color distribution even from a single-peaked metallicity spread. Using photometric and spectroscopic data on GCs in NGC 5128 (Cen A) and NGC 4594 (Sombrero), we investigate the nonlinearity of GC CMRs and compare the observed GC CMRs with the predictions of stellar population simulation models. Our careful selection of old GCs effectively reduces the scatter and reveals the nonlinear nature of the GC CMRs for various colors. The overall shape of the observed CMRs agrees well with that of the modeled CMRs, while offsets are present for some colors. We discuss the implications of our results in terms of the GC color bimodality and GC formation in NGC 5128 and NGC 4594.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.38.1-38.1
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• 2019

Globular clusters (GCs) are one of the excellent tools to trace the assembly history of their host galaxies. Especially, the ages and abundances of the GCs give important clues about the star formation epochs and merging progenitors. We investigate the stellar population of the GCs in M87 based on a stacking analysis using about 900 MMT/Hectospec spectra of the GCs. We measure the ages, [Z/H], and [a/Fe] from the stacked spectra of the GCs within radial bins based on Lick indices. We find clear radial gradients for [Z/H] and [a/Fe] in the GC system. In addition to the radial trends, we investigate the stellar populations of the GC subgroups divided according to colors, radial velocities, and spatial locations. We discuss the formation history of M87 based on the stellar populations of the GCs.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.62.1-62.1
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• 2014

Metallicity distribution of globular clusters (GCs) provides an important clue for star formation history of their host galaxy. With an assumption that GCs are generally old, GC colors have been used as a proxy of GC metallicities. Bimodal GC color distributions observed in most large galaxies have, for decades, been interpreted as bimodal metallicity distributions, indicating the presence of two populations within a galaxy. However, the conventional view has been challenged by a new theory that non-linear GC color-metallicity relations (CMRs) can cause a bimodal color distribution even from a single-peaked metallicity distribution. Using the photometric and spectroscopic data of NGC 5128 GCs in combination with stellar population simulation models, we examine the effect of non-linearity in GC CMRs on the transformation of GC color distributions into metallicity distributions. Although, in some colors, offsets are present between observations and models in the CMRs, their overall shape agrees well for various colors. After the offsets are corrected, the observed spectroscopic metallicity distribution is well reproduced via modeled CMRs from various color distributions having different morphologies. On the other hand, the linearly converted metallicity distributions from GC colors show a significant discrepancy with the observed spectroscopic metallicity distribution. We discuss the implications of our results.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.51.2-51.2
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• 2014

Ultra faint dwarf galaxies (UFDs) are larger but fainter than globular clusters, being the faintest galaxies in the universe. They have been found only in the Local Group. We report the discovery of an UFD in the intracluster field of the Virgo cluster (Virgo UFD1). It is located near the core of Virgo cluster, and far from any massive galaxies. The color magnitude diagram of resolved stars in Virgo UFD1 shows narrow, metal poor red giant branch (RGB), which is very similar to the UFDs in the Local Group. by comparing RGB in this galaxy with 12 Gyr stellar isochrones, we estimate its distance, $d=16.4{\pm}0.4$ Mpc and mean metallicity, $[Fe/H]=-2.4{\pm}0.4$. We derive its integrated photometric properties and structural parameters : V-band absolute magnitude of $MV=-6.3{\pm}0.2$, effective radius of $84{\pm}7pc$, and central surface brightness of ${\mu}V,0=26.49{\pm}0.09$ mag arcsec-2. These properties are similar to these of Local Group UFDs. Virgo UFD1 is the first UFD discovered beyond the Local Group. These results indicate that it may be a fossil remnant of the first galaxies.