• 천문학회지
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• 제38권2호
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• pp.125-128
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• 2005

In this paper, we argue that the gigahertz peaked spectrum (GPS) quasars are special blazars, blazars in dense and dusty gas enviornment. The ROSAT detection rate of GPS quasars is similar to that of flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs), suggesting that the relativistic jets in GPS quasars are oriented at small angle to the line of sight. Due to strong inverse Compton scattering off infrared photons from dense and dusty nuclear interstellar media in GPS quasars, most of them may have significant soft gamma-ray and X-ray emission, which is consistent with ASCA X-ray observations. Because Compton cooling in GPS quasars is stronger than that in FSRQs, synchrotron emission in GPS quasars may less dominate over thermal emission of the accretion disk and hot dust, hence most GPS quasars show low optical polarization and small variability, consistent with observations. We suggest that it is the significant radio emission of electron/positron pairs produced by the interaction of gamma-rays with the dense gas and dust grains in GPS quasars that makes GPS quasars show steep radio spectra, low radio polarization, and relatively faint VLBI/VLBA cores. Whether GPS quasars are special blazars can be tested by gamma-ray observations with GLAST in the near future, with the detection rate of GPS quasars being similar to that of FSRQs.

• 천문학회보
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• 제41권1호
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• pp.66.2-66.2
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• 2016

Red quasars have been suspected to be an intermediate population between merger-driven star-forming galaxies and normal quasars. In this scenario, red quasars are expected to have dusty red color coming from the dust extinction by dust and gas in their host galaxy. However, several studies have proposed different explanation of the red color of red quasars, which are i) a moderate viewing angle between type 1 and 2 quasars, ii) an unusual covering factor of dust torus, and iii) an anomalous synchrotron emission with a peak at NIR wavelength. In this study, we investigate the factor leading to the red color of red quasars by using the line luminosity ratios of the hydrogen Balmer to Paschen series of 11 red quasars. We find the Pb/Hb luminosity ratios of the red quasars are significantly higher than those of normal quasars. Moreover, we compare the Pb/Hb luminosity ratios of the red quasars to the theoretically expected line luminosity ratios computed from the CLOUDY code. We find the line luminosity ratios of the red quasars cannot be explained by the theoretical line luminosity ratios with any physical conditions. We conclude that red color of red quasars comes from dust extinction by their host galaxy. This result is consistent with the picture that red quasars are an intermediate population between the merger-driven star-forming galaxies and normal quasars.

• 천문학논총
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.1-20
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• 2007

Quasars at cosmological distances can be gravitationally lensed by galaxies into two or more images. The probability of this lensing and the angular separation between the images depend on the geometry and the expansion history of the universe as well as the lensing galaxies. The time delay between lensed images is also a direct indicator of the size of the universe. I review these cosmological applications of multiple-image gravitationally lensed quasars to determine or constrain the cosmological parameters.

• 천문학회지
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• 제55권4호
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• pp.131-138
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• 2022

We report the discovery of four quasars with M₁₄₅₀ ≳ -25.0 mag at z ~ 5 and supermassive black hole mass measurement for one of the quasars. They were selected as promising high-redshift quasar candidates via deep learning and Bayesian information criterion, which are expected to be effective in discriminating quasars from the late-type stars and high-redshift galaxies. The candidates were observed by the Double Spectrograph on the Palomar 200-inch Hale Telescope. They show clear Lyα breaks at about 7000-8000 Å, indicating they are quasars at 4.7 < z < 5.6. For HSC J233107-001014, we measure the mass of its supermassive black hole (SMBH) using its C _IV λ1549 emission line. The SMBH mass and Eddington ratio of the quasar are found to be ~10⁸ M_⊙ and ~0.6, respectively. This suggests that this quasar possibly harbors a fast growing SMBH near the Eddington limit despite its faintness (L_Bol < 10⁴⁶ erg s^-1). Our 100% quasar identification rate supports high efficiency of our deep learning and Bayesian information criterion selection method, which can be applied to future surveys to increase high-redshift quasar sample.

• 천문학회보
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• 제44권2호
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• pp.38.2-38.2
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• 2019

In the history of universe, galaxies are consistently affected by surrounding medium and neighbor galaxies. These effects control galaxy evolution, making properties of galaxies diverse and dependent on environments. We investigate environments of various types of galaxies and how they affect galaxy properties, such as bar structures and galaxy sizes, etc. First, we present the observational evidence that bars can form from a cluster-cluster interaction. The evidence indicates that bars can form due to a large-scale violent phenomenon, and cluster-cluster interaction should be considered as an important channel for bar formation. Second, we discover for the first time that local early-type galaxies heavier than 1011.2 Msol show a clear environmental dependence in mass-size relation, in such a way that galaxies are as much as 20 - 40% larger in densest environments than in underdense environments. This result suggests that mergers played a significant role in the growth of massive galaxies in dense environments as expected in theory. Lastly, we investigate environments of the most massive galaxies and extremely massive quasars. By doing so, we find that massive galaxies are a much better signpost for galaxy clusters than massive quasars.

• 천문학논총
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.157-161
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• 2017

The dusty torus of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) is one of the important components for the unification theory of AGNs. The geometry and properties of the dusty torus are key factors in understanding the nature of AGNs as well as the formation and evolution of AGNs. However, they are still under discussion. Infrared observation is useful for understanding the dusty torus as thermal emission from hot dust with the dust sublimation temperature (~ 1500 K) has been observed in the infrared. We have analyzed infrared spectroscopic data of low-redshift and high-redshift quasars, which are luminous AGNs. For the low-redshift quasars, we constructed the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with AKARI near-infrared and Spitzer mid-infrared spectra and decomposed the SEDs into a power-law component from the nuclei, silicate features, and blackbody components with different temperatures from the dusty torus. From the decomposition, the temperature of the innermost dusty torus shows the range between 900-2000 K. For the high-redshift quasars, AKARI traced rest-frame optical and near-infrared spectra of AGNs. Combining with WISE data, we have found that the temperature of the innermost dusty torus in high redshift quasars is lower than that in typical quasars. The hydrogen $H{\alpha}$ emission line from the braod emission line region in the quasars also shows narrow full width at half maximum of $3000-4000km\;s^{-1}$. These results indicate that the dusty torus and the broad emission line region are more extended than those of typical quasars.

• 천문학회보
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• 제39권2호
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• pp.59.2-59.2
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• 2014

We study the environmental dependences of various quasar properties using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). For an environmental indicator, we construct the galaxy number density field from the latest data (Data Release 12) of Constant MASS (CMASS) galaxies of SDSS in the redshift range 0.46<=z<=0.59. The galaxy number density field is determined by searching the 20 nearest galaxies from each grid point. For quasars, we use the fifth edition of the SDSS Quasar Catalog made by Schneider et al. (2010) and the catalog of properties for the quasars by Shen et al. (2011). We find environmental dependences of quasar properties as a function of the galaxy number density. This will help us to understand the evolution of quasars with their environment, which will be useful to improve modeling Active Galactic Nuclei feedback in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations.

• 천문학회보
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• 제36권2호
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• pp.55.2-55.2
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• 2011

We present the current research activities of the Center for the Exploration of the Origin of the Universe, a center established at Seoul National University with the Creative Research Initiative program. Our activities focus on observational studies of distant objects such as gamma-ray bursts, quasars, and proto-cluster of galaxies, but we also carry out other observational and theoretical studies in related topics. We also developed a new instrument, Camera for Quasars at Early Universe (CQUEAN) in collaboration with Kyunghee University group, and have secured observing facilities such as UKIRT and McDonald 2.1m observatory. Our research highlights include results such as the discovery of high redshift quasars and gamma ray bursts, the discovery of tidal disruption event at z=0.38 and peculiar gamma ray burst events, analysis of proto-clusters of galaxies, the discovery of brown dwarfs, and development of CQUEAN and its usage at the McDonald observatory.

• 천문학논총
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.305-307
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• 2017

We have identified 22 quasars in the AKARI far-infrared all-sky Bright Source Catalogue, using a matching radius of < 10", and excluding matches which are close to foreground extended sources or cirrus. We have confirmed a relation between quasar optical luminosity and far-infrared luminosity which was found in an earlier study. In addition, we have found that the 11 sources which are at redshift z > 1 are magnified with respect to the predicted far-infrared luminosity, and consider this may be due to gravitational lensing. If confirmed, this would provide a new way to identify lenses; if not, we may have identified an interesting new population of extreme starbursting quasars.

• 천문학회지
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• 제48권1호
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• pp.83-92
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• 2015

Recent large scale surveys such as Sloan Digital Sky Survey have produced homogeneous samples of multiple-image gravitationally lensed quasars with well-defined selection effects. Statistical analysis on these can yield independent constraints on cosmological parameters. Here we use the image separation statistics of lensed quasars from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search (SQLS) to derive constraints on cosmological parameters. Our analysis does not require knowledge of the magnification bias, which can only be estimated from the detailed knowledge on the quasar luminosity function at all redshifts, and includes the consideration for the bias against small image separation quasars due to selection against faint lens galaxy in the follow-up observations for confirmation. We first use the mean image separation of the lensed quasars as a function of redshift to find that cosmological models with extreme curvature are inconsistent with observed lensed quasars. We then apply the maximum likelihood test to the statistical sample of 16 lensed quasars that have both measured redshift and magnitude of lens galaxy. The likelihood incorporates the probability that the observed image separation is realized given the luminosity of the lens galaxy in the same manner as Im et al. (1997). We find that the 95% confidence range for the cosmological constant (i.e., the vacuum energy density) is $0.72{\leq}{\Omega}_{\Lambda}{\leq}1.0$ for a flat universe. We also find that the equation of state parameter can be consistent with -1 as long as the matter density ${\Omega}_m{\leq}0.4$ (95% confidence range). We conclude that the image separation statistics incorporating the brightness of lens galaxies can provide robust constraints on the cosmological parameters.