• 천문학논총
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.197-199
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• 2017

Using the InfraRed Camera (IRC) on board the infrared astronomical satellite AKARI we study the ${3.3{\mu}m}$ polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) feature and its connection to active galactic nucleus (AGN) properties for a sample of 54 hard X-ray selected bright AGN, including both Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 type objects. The sample is selected from the 9-month Swift/BAT survey in the 14-195 keV band and all of the sources have known neutral hydrogen column densities ($N_H$). The ${3.3{\mu}m}$ PAH luminosity ($L_{3.3{\mu}m}$) is used as a proxy for star-formation (SF) activity and hard X-ray luminosity ($L_{14-195keV}$) as an indicator of the AGN power. We explore for possible difference of SF activity between type 1 (un-absorbed) and type 2 (absorbed) AGN. We use several statistical analyses taking the upper-limits of the PAH lines into account utilizing survival analysis methods. The results of our log($L_{14-195keV}$) versus log($L_{3.3{\mu}m}$) regression shows a positive correlation and the slope for the type 1/unobscured AGN is steeper than that of type 2/obscured AGN at a $3{\sigma}$ level. Also our analysis shows that the circum-nuclear SF is more enhanced in type 2/absorbed AGN than type 1/un-absorbed AGN for low $L_{14-195keV}$ luminosity/low Eddington ratio AGN, while there is no significant dependence of SF activity on the AGN type in the high $L_{14-195keV}$ luminosities/Eddington ratios.

• 천문학회보
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• 제42권1호
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• pp.29.1-29.1
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• 2017

I present new near-infrared (NIR) photometry of globular cluster (GC) systems associated to a cD galaxy NGC 4874 in the core of the Coma cluster and 16 early-type galaxies in the Fornax and Virgo clusters of galaxies using the Infrared Channel of the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3/IR) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Combining these high-resolution NIR data with new HST Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) optical photometry for NGC 4874 and existing ACS GC catalogs from the ACS Fornax and Virgo Cluster Surveys, I have examined for the first time the GC systems in a statistically significant optical/NIR sample of galaxies spanning a wide range of luminosities and colors. A primary goal of this study is to explore empirically whether the distributions of purely optical and hybrid optical - NIR color indices for extragalactic GCs have different forms and whether the relations between these color indices are nonlinear, indicating that they behave differently with underlying metallicity. I find that some GC systems of large galaxies in our sample show color bimodalities that differ between the optical and optical - NIR colors, in the sense that they have disparate ratios of "blue" and "red" peak GCs, as well as differing ratios in their color dispersions. Consistent with these results, I find empirically that the dependence of hybrid optical-NIR color on purely optical color is nonlinear, with an inflection at intermediate metallicities. These findings underscore the importance of understanding the nature of galaxy-to-galaxy variations in the GC color distributions and color-color relations, as well as the exact forms of the color-metallicity transformations, in interpreting the observational data on GC color bimodality. Our ACS data for NGC 4874 shows that its GC system exhibits a very strong blue tilt, implying a very steep mass-metallicity scaling, and the centroid of this GC system is offset by $4{\pm}1kpc$ from the luminosity center of NGC 4874, in the direction of NGC 4872. Finally, I discuss the asymmetrical GC distribution around a dwarf elliptical galaxy in Coma that has a very high relative velocity with respect to the cluster mean at small clustercentric radius.

• 천문학회지
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• 제31권2호
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• pp.161-171
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• 1998

We have mapped about 1.5 square degree regions of Lynds 1299, a well isolated dark cloud in the Outer Galaxy (l = $122^{\circ}$, b = $-7^{\circ}$), in the J = 1- 0 transition of $^{12}CO$ and $^{13}CO$ with the 13.7 m radio telescope at Taeduk Radio Astronomy Observatory (TRAO). We found that there are two velocity components in the molecular emission, at $V_{LSR} = -52 km S^{-1}$ (Cloud A) and -8.8 km $s^{-1}$ (Cloud B), respectively. We have derived physical parameters of two molecular clouds and discussed three different mass estimate techniques. We found that there are large discrepancies between the virial and LTE mass estimates for both clouds. The large virial mass estimate reflects the fact that both are not gravitationally bound. We adopt the mass of $5.6 {\times}10^3 \;M{\bigodot}$ for Cloud A and $1.2{\times}10^3 \;M{\bigodot}$) for Cloud B using conversion factor. Cloud A is found to be associated with a localized star forming site, and its morphology is well matching with that of far-infrared (FIR) dust emission. It shows a clear ring structure with an obvious velocity gradient. We suggest that it may be a remnant cloud from a past episode of massive star formation. Cloud B is found to be unrelated to Cloud A (d = 800 pc) and has no specific velocity structure. The average dust color temperature of the uncontaminated portion of Cloud A is estimated to be 24$\~$27.4 K. The low dust temperature may imply that there is no additional internal heating source within the cloud. The heating of the cloud is probably dominated by the interstellar radiation field except the region directly associated with the new-born B5 star. Overall, the dust properties of Cloud A are similar to those of normal dark cloud even though it does have star forming activity.

• 천문학회지
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• 제54권3호
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• pp.89-102
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• 2021

Even in an era where 8-meter class telescopes are common, small telescopes are considered very valuable research facilities since they are available for rapid follow-up or long term monitoring observations. To maximize the usefulness of small telescopes in Korea, we established the SomangNet, a network of 0.4-1.0 m class optical telescopes operated by Korean institutions, in 2020. Here, we give an overview of the project, describing the current participating telescopes, its scientific scope and operation mode, and the prospects for future activities. SomangNet currently includes 10 telescopes that are located in Australia, USA, and Chile as well as in Korea. The operation of many of these telescopes currently relies on operators, and we plan to upgrade them for remote or robotic operation. The latest SomangNet science projects include monitoring and follow-up observational studies of galaxies, supernovae, active galactic nuclei, symbiotic stars, solar system objects, neutrino/gravitational-wave sources, and exoplanets.

• 천문학회보
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• 제41권1호
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• pp.37.3-38
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• 2016

Recent studies suggest that faint active galactic nuclei may be responsible for the reionization of the universe. Confirmation of this scenario requires spectroscopic identification of faint quasars ($M_{1450}$ > -24 mag) at z > 6, but only a very small number of such quasars have been spectroscopically identified so far. Here, we report the discovery of a faint quasar IMS J220417.92+011144.8 at z ~ 6 in a $12.5deg^2$ region of the SA22 field of the Infrared Medium-deep Survey (IMS). The spectrum of the quasar shows a sharp break at ${\sim}8443{\AA}$, with emission lines redshifted to $z=5.944{\pm}0.002$ and rest-frame ultraviolet continuum magnitude $M_{1450}=-23.59{\pm}0.10$ AB mag. The discovery of IMS J220417.92+011144.8 is consistent with the expected number of quasars at z ~6 estimated from quasar luminosity functions based on previous observations of spectroscopically identified low-luminosity quasars. This suggest that the number of $M_{1450}$ ~ -23 mag quasars at z ~ 6 may not be high enough to fully account for the reionization of the universe. In addition, our study demonstrates that faint quasars in the early universe can be identified effectively with a moderately wide and deep near-infrared survey such as the IMS.

• 천문학회지
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• 제46권6호
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• pp.203-224
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• 2013

Wide-field $JHK_s$ images obtained with the SIRIUS near-infrared camera of the IRSF 1.4m telescope are used to examine the tidal structures of the spatial stellar configuration around six metal-poor ([Fe/H]< -1.0) globular clusters located within 3 kpc from the Galactic center. The radial surface density profiles are obtained from the surface photometry of the cluster images and the star counting for the photometric data. For the star counting, candidates of cluster member stars are selected with an filtering algorithm in color-magnitude diagrams. We find that the six target clusters show tidal overdensity features in the radial surface density profiles. There is a break inside the tidal radius for each cluster, and the profile in the outer overdensity region is characterized by a power law. Two-dimensional density maps of all the clusters show distorted asymmetric stellar configurations in the outer region. In five out of the six target clusters, the overdensity features are likely to be associated with the effects of the Galaxy dynamical interaction and the cluster space motions. The observed tidal configurations of stars suggest that several metal-poor clusters in the Galactic bulge are possibly surviving remnants of mergers to build the old stellar system of the Galactic bulge.

• 천문학회보
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.65.1-65.1
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• 2012

MIRIS (Multipurpose Infra-Red Imaging System) is the first Korean Infrared Space Telescope developed by KASI (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute), and is the main payload of STSAT-3 (Science and Technology Satellite-3). The FM (fight model) of MIRIS has been recently completed, and various performance tests have been made to measure system parameters such as readout noise, system gain, linearity, and dark current. Final thermal-vacumm test of the MIRIS and the vibration test of the electronics box have been performed. Band response tests showed good agreement with the initial design requirements. No significant dark difference was measured within the expected temperature variation range during observation in orbit. Using Pa-alpha band from a uniform source, the readout noise and system gain were measured by mean variance test. To obtain uniform flat image, flat fielding tests were made for each band, and the data will be compared to that obtained in orbit for calibration. The final version of MIRIS FM will be delivered in March, and it will be integrated into the satellite system for the AIT (Assembly Integration, Test) procedure. The launch of MIRIS is expected in November 2012.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• 제33권3호
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• pp.177-183
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• 2016

Active galactic nuclei (AGN) are too compact to be resolved by any existing optical telescope facility, making it difficult to understand their structure and the emission processes responsible for their huge energy output. However, variability, one of their characteristic properties, provides a tool to probe the inner regions of AGN. Blazars are the best candidates for such a study, and hence a considerable amount of effort is being made to investigate variability in these sources across the electromagnetic spectrum. Here, using the Mt. Abu infrared observatory (MIRO) blazar monitoring program, we present intra-night, inter-night, and long term aspects of the variability in S5 0716+71, 3C66A, and OJ 287. These stars show significant variability on short (a few tens of mins, to a few hours, to a few days) to long term (months to years) timescales. Based on the light travel time argument, the shortest variability timescales (micro-variability) provide upper limits to the size of the emission region. While S5 0716 shows a very high duty cycle of variability (> 80 %), 3C66A shows a much lower intra day variability (IDV) duty cycle (< 20 %). All three show rapid variations within 2.5 to 3.5 hr, which, perhaps, are generated near the vicinity of black holes. Assuming this, estimates of the masses of the black holes are made at ~10⁹, 8×10⁸, and 2.7×10⁹ M_⨀ for S5 0716+71, 3C66A, and OJ 287, respectively. Multi-wavelength light-curves for the blazar PKS 1510-089 are discussed to infer the emission processes responsible for the recent flaring episodes in this source.

• 천문학회지
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• 제49권1호
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• pp.25-35
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• 2016

Multiple color selection techniques are successful in identifying quasars from wide-field broadband imaging survey data. Among the quasars that have been discovered so far, however, there is a redshift gap at 5 ≲ z ≲ 5.7 due to the limitations of filter sets in previous studies. In this work, we present a new selection technique of high redshift quasars using a sequence of medium-band filters: nine filters with central wavelengths from 625 to 1025 nm and bandwidths of 50 nm. Photometry with these medium-bands traces the spectral energy distribution (SED) of a source, similar to spectroscopy with resolution R ~ 15. By conducting medium-band observations of high redshift quasars at 4.7 ≤ z ≤ 6.0 and brown dwarfs (the main contaminants in high redshift quasar selection) using the SED camera for QUasars in EArly uNiverse (SQUEAN) on the 2.1-m telescope at the McDonald Observatory, we show that these medium-band filters are superior to multi-color broad-band color section in separating high redshift quasars from brown dwarfs. In addition, we show that redshifts of high redshift quasars can be determined to an accuracy of Δz/(1 + z) = 0.002 - 0.026. The selection technique can be extended to z ~ 7, suggesting that the medium-band observation can be powerful in identifying quasars even at the re-ionization epoch.

• 천문학회보
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• 제42권2호
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• pp.44.3-45
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• 2017

To date, luminous quasars at z ~ 6 have been found to be in maximal accretion with the Eddington ratios, ${\lambda}Edd$ ~ 1, suggesting enhanced nuclear activities in the early universe. However, this may not be the whole picture of supermassive black hole (SMBH) growth since previous studies have not reached on faint quasars that are more likely to harbor SMBHs with low ${\lambda}Edd$. To understand the accretion activities in quasars at high redshift, we obtained the deep near-infrared (NIR) spectrum of a quasar, IMS J2204+0112, one of the few faintest quasars that have been identified at z ~ 6. From the NIR spectrum, we find that IMS J2204+0112 harbors a SMBH with about a billion solar mass, with ${\log}({\lambda}Edd)=-0.91$. This is the lowest accretion rate found so far for quasars at z ~ 6, but a common value among quasars at z ~ 2. The inclusion of this object in the ${\lambda}Edd$ analysis gives the intrinsic ${\lambda}Edd$ distribution of z ~ 6 quasars, which is lower than previous results that are based on bright quasars, but it is still higher than ${\lambda}Edd$ of z ~ 2 quasars. Although the number statistics needs to be improved in future, the low peak ${\lambda}Edd$ value is consistent with the SMBH growth from a massive black hole seed (~ 105 Msun) or from a stellar mass black hole through short-duration super-Eddington accretion events (${\lambda}Edd$ > 10).