• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.167-176
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• 2006

We investigate the correlation between the peak energy and the burst duration using available long GRB data with known redshift, whose circumburst medium type has been suggested via afterglow light curve modeling. We find that the peak energy and the burst duration of the observed GRBs are correlated both in the observer frame and in the GRB rest frame. For our total sample we obtain, for instance, the Spearman rank-order correlation values ${\sim}0.75\;and\;{\sim}0.65$ with the chance probabilities $P=1.0{\times}10^{-3}\;and\;P=6.0{\times}10^{-3}$ in the observer frame and in the GRB rest frame, respectively. We note that taking the effects of the expanding universe into account reduces the value a bit. We further attempt to separate our GRB sample into the 'ISM' GRBs and the 'WIND' GRBs according to environment models inferred from the afterglow light curves and apply statistical tests, as one may expect that clues on the progenitor of GRBs can be deduced directly from prompt emission properties other than from the ambient environment surrounding GRBs. We find that two subsamples of GRBs show different correlation coefficients. That is, the Spearman rank-order correlation are ${\sim}0.65\;and\;{\sim}0.57$ for the 'ISM' GRBs and 'WIND' GRBs, respectively, after taking the effects of the expanding universe into account. It is not yet, however, statistically very much significant that the GRBS in two types of circumburst media show statistically characteristic behaviors, from which one may conclude that all the long bursts are not originated from a single progenitor population. A larger size of data is required to increase the statistical significance.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.209.2-209.2
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• 2012

UFFO Burst Alert & Trigger telescope (UBAT) is one of major instruments of UFFO-Pathfinder. The UBAT aims at 10 arcmin resolution localization of Gamma Ray Bursts with X-ray coded mask technique. It has $400mm{\times}400mm$ coded mask aperture, hopper, shielding and detector module with effective area of $191cm^2$. The detector module consists of an assembly of 36 64-ch MAPMTs and $25mm{\times}25mm$ pixellated YSO crystal array, and associated analog and digital electronics of about 2500 channels. We performed a vibration test using a dummy MAPMT with the detector module structure to measure the indused stress applied onto the MAPMT. We designed a sub-structure on the detector module to avoid the resonance that would otherwise deforms the detector module structure. A finite element analysis confirms the reduction of the load acceleration down to 12g. The experimental results are to be reported. Consequently, it proves that the MAPMT arrays of the flight UBAT detector module structure would survive in the space launch environment.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.31.3-31.3
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• 2016

Exploring a universe with gravitational waves (GWs) was only theoretical expectation for long time. In September 2015, the Laser Interferometer GW Observatory (LIGO) first detected GWs emitted from the collision of two stellar-mass black holes in cosmological distance (1.3 billion light years) on Earth. This confirms the existence of black-hole binary mergers, and further, opens a new field of GW astronomy. We begin our discussion with a list of important GW sources that can be detectable on Earth by large-scale laser interferometers such as LIGO. Focusing on compact objects such as neutron stars and black holes, we then discuss possible research in the context of GW astronomy. By coordinating with existing observatories, searching for electromagnetic waves or particles from astronomical objects, around the world, multi-messenger astronomy for the universe's most cataclysmic phenomena (e.g. gamma-ray bursts) will be available in the near future.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.61.1-61.1
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• 2016

As a new way to explore the universe, astronomers are now performing time-domain astronomy by surveying the universe looking for new transient phenomena and taking movies of the universe with telescopes. Large-area, time-series survey of astronomical objects are uncovering many interesting, fast-changing objects that have now been poorly understood before, such as GRBs, tidal disruption phenomena, and new types of supernova. In order to characterize these new, exciting events, it is very critical to perform follow-up observations, and 1-2m telescopes can effectively contribute to such efforts. Since 2007, our group has been performing follow-up observations of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and interesting transients using BOAO and other KASI facilities. Here, we present results from several key transient studies that were done by using BOAO: (1) tidal disruption event Swift J1644+57; (2) SN 2011fe that occurred in M101; and (3) several GRB events. These study demonstrates the usefulness of BOAO as a powerful transient follow-up facility. Finally, we will discuss how BOAO research activities can possibly be bolstered in this newly emerging field of astronomy.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.84.2-84.2
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• 2011

Astrophysical jets play important roles in many interesting astronomical phenomena, such as star formation, gamma-ray bursts, and active galactic nuclei. The jets are thought to be driven by rotating disks through magneto-centrifugal processes. However, quantitative understanding of the jet-driving mechanism has been difficult because examples showing rotation in both disk and jet are rare. One of the important quantities in the models of jet engine is the size of the jet-launching region. The bipolar jet of the NGC 1333 IRAS 4A2 protostar shows a lateral velocity gradient, which suggests that the SiO jet is rotating around its axis. The jet rotation is consistent with the rotation of the accretion disk. The disk-jet rotation kinematics suggests that the jet-launching region on the disk, or the outflow foot-ring, has a radius of about 2 AU, which supports the disk-wind models.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.191-201
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• 2001

My contribution to these proceedings summarizes a general overview on High Resolution Shock Capturing methods (HRSC) in the field of relativistic hydrodynamics with special emphasis on Riemann solvers. HRSC techniques achieve highly accurate numerical approximations (formally second order or better) in smooth regions of the flow, and capture the motion of unresolved steep gradients without creating spurious oscillations. In the first part I will show how these techniques have been extended to relativistic hydrodynamics, making it possible to explore some challenging astrophysical scenarios. I will review recent literature concerning the main properties of different special relativistic Riemann solvers, and discuss several 1D and 2D test problems which are commonly used to evaluate the performance of numerical methods in relativistic hydrodynamics. In the second part I will illustrate the use of HRSC methods in several astrophysical applications where special and general relativistic hydrodynamical processes play a crucial role.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.36.2-36.2
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• 2010

CQUEAN (Camera fo QUasars in EArly uNiverse) is a newly developed camera by CEOU for the 2.1m telescope at the McDonald Observatory, Texas, USA. We report the early science results from the commissioning run of CQUEAN which include the observations of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows and quasars at z ~ 5.5. Although the data were originally taken to test the instrument performance, the results are already very encouraging. We uncovered GRB afterglows at z = 0.8 - 1.4, with our data being used for the international collaboration research to understand the nature of GRBs. The unique filter sets we employed are providing the data which are effective for selecting quasars at z ~ 5.5. The special aspects of CQUEAN - high sensitivity at 0.8-1.1 ${\mu}m$ and fast readouts - will allow us to produce many interesting through surveys of high redshift quasars and fast follow-up of transient objects such as GRBs and exoplanets in future.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.679-682
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• 2015

The Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center (HASC) was founded in 2004 at Hiroshima University, Japan. The main mission of this institute is the observational study of various transient objects including gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, novae, cataclysmic variables, and active galactic nuclei by means of multi-wavelength observations. HASC consists of three divisions; the optical-infrared astronomy division, high-energy astronomy division, and theoretical astronomy division. HASC is operating the 1.5m optical-infrared telescope Kanata, which is dedicated to follow-up and monitoring observations of transient objects. The high-energy division is the key operation center for the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope. HASC and the high-energy astronomy group in the department of physical science at Hiroshima University are closely collaborating with each other to promote multi-wavelength time-domain astronomy. We report the recent activities of HASC and some science topics pursued by this multi-wavelength collaboration.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.207-212
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• 2015

We introduce the Lee Sang Gak Telescope (LSGT), a remotely operated, robotic 0.43-meter telescope. The telescope was installed at the Siding Spring Observatory, Australia, in 2014 October, to secure regular and exclusive access to the dark sky and excellent atmospheric conditions in the southern hemisphere from the Seoul National University (SNU) campus. Here, we describe the LSGT system and its performance, present example images from early observations, and discuss a future plan to upgrade the system. The use of the telescope includes (i) long-term monitoring observations of nearby galaxies, active galactic nuclei, and supernovae; (ii) rapid follow-up observations of transients such as gamma-ray bursts and gravitational wave sources; and (iii) observations for educational activities at SNU. Based on observations performed so far, we find that the telescope is capable of providing images to a depth of R = 21:5 mag (point source detection) at 5-σ with 15 min total integration time under good observing conditions.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.52.1-52.1
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• 2016

The Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are classified into the long GRBs (LGRBs) and the short GRBs (SGRBs). Their progenitors are expected to be different because they have its own distinct characteristics. Occasionally, the SGRBs having faint extended emission (EGRBs) are observed. The EGRBs exhibit the analogous properties that the SGRBs have, but observed T90 of the EGRBs is longer than two seconds as the LGRBs. Because the EGRBs have characteristics of the LGRBs and the SGRBs, study of the EGRBs is important to understand origins of the GRBs. In this study, we obtain the luminosity relations of the EGRBs observed by Swift/BAT. We compare these results with luminosity relations on the LGRBs and SGRBs. In addition, we examine the spectral lag relations of spike and extended emission component of the EGRBs detected by CGRO/BATSE, Konus/WIND, Swift/BAT, Fermi/GBM and compare to each other. We find that the luminosity relations of the EGRBs present different results with the LGRBs and the SGRBs. In the spectral lag relations, extended emission component expresses opposite results compared with spike component. Furthermore, the spectral lag relations from the four instruments came up with different outcomes to each other.