• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.48.2-48.2
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• 2019

Light from universe is absorbed, scattered, and re-released by interstellar dust before it reaches us. Therefore, accurate correction of the observed light requires not only spatial distribution of interstellar dust, but also information on absorption and scattering for each wavelength. Far-ultraviolet (FUV) light is mainly produced by bright, young O-type and some B-type stars, but it is also observed in interstellar space without these stars. Called FUV Galactic light (DGL), these lights are mostly known as starlight scattered by interstellar dust. With the recent release of GAIA DR2, not only accurate distance information of stars in our Galaxy, but also accurate three-dimensional distribution maps of interstellar dust of our Galaxy were produced. Based on this, we performed 3-dimensional Monte Carlo dust scattering radiative transfer simulations for FUV light to obtain dust scattered FUV images and compared them with the observed FUV image obtained by FIMS and GALEX. From this, we find the scattering properties of interstellar dust in our Galaxy and suggest the intensity of extragalactic background light. These results are expected to aid in the study of chemical composition, size distribution, shape, and alignment of interstellar dust in our Galaxy.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.155-158
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• 2015

The traditional view of dust in the interstellar medium is that it is made of graphite and silicates. In this paper, we discuss the evidence for complex organics being a major component of interstellar dust. Comparison between astronomical infrared spectra and laboratory spectra of amorphous carbonaceous materials suggests that organics of mixed aromatic-aliphatic structures are widely present in circumstellar, interstellar, and galactic environments. Scenarios for the synthesis of these compounds in the late stages of stellar evolution are presented.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.289-294
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• 2004

The main sources of interstellar dust are believed to be dust envelopes around AGB stars. The outflowing envelopes around the long period pulsating variables are very suitable place for massive dust formation. Oxygen-rich silicate dust grains or carbon-rich dust grains form in the envelopes around AGB stars depending on the chemical composition of the stellar surface. The dust grains expelled from AGB stars get mixed up and go through some physical and chemical changes in interstellar medium. There are similarities and differences between interstellar dust and dust grains in AGB stars. The mass cycle in the Galaxy may be best manifested by the fact that the dust grains at various regions have many similarities and understandable differences.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.27-34
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• 1979

Temperature history of very small interstellar dust particles is followed under diffuse interstellar radiation. Because of extremely small thermal capacities of these grains with sizes ranging from a few tens to hundred Angstroms in radii, they are to experience strong fluctuations in temperature whenever they are hit by interstellar ultraviolet photons. Fluctuating temperature can inhibit these smaller component of interstellar dust from growing into core-mantle particles of submicron sizes by continuously evaporating atoms and molecules adsorbed on their surface. This is interpreted as a possible physical reason for the bimodal nature in grain size distribution. A brief discussion is also given to the far infrared emission properties of such small grains in diffuse interstellar dust clouds.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2013.08a
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• pp.65.1-65.1
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• 2013

Icy dust particles in interstellar clouds are considered to play a catalytic role in molecular evolution in space. Atoms and simple molecules constituting the ice mantles of dust particles may be transformed into more complex molecules under the irradiation of UV and cosmic rays. This seminar will present our recent study results for chemistry of ice surfaces, with the emphases on the mechanistic features of elementary reactions and the implications for interstellar molecular evolution. The types of reactions studied include molecule diffusion in ice, proton and hydroxide transfers, and some UV-induced reactions wih astrobiological relevance.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.117-122
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• 2012

The interstellar dust grains are formed and supplied to interstellar space from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars or supernova remnants, and become constituents of the star- and planet-formation processes that lead to the next generation of stars. Both a qualitative, and a compositional study of this cycle are essential to understanding the origin of the pre-solar grains, the missing sources of the interstellar material, and the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The AKARI/MIR all-sky survey was performed with two mid-infrared photometric bands centered at 9 and $18{\mu}m$. These data have advantages in detecting carbonaceous and silicate circumstellar dust of AGB stars, and the interstellar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons separately from large grains of amorphous silicate. By using the AKARI/MIR All-Sky point source catalogue, we surveyed C-rich and O-rich AGB stars in our Galaxy, which are the dominant suppliers of carbonaceous and silicate grains, respectively. The C-rich stars are uniformly distributed across the Galactic disk, whereas O-rich stars are concentrated toward the Galactic center, following the metallicity gradient of the interstellar medium, and are presumably affected by the environment of their birth place. We will compare the distributions of the dust suppliers with the distributions of the interstellar grains themselves by using the AKARI/MIR All-Sky diffuse maps. To enable discussions on the faint diffuse interstellar radiation, we are developing an accurate AKARI/MIR All-Sky diffuse map by correcting artifacts such as the ionising radiation effects, scattered light from the moon, and stray light from bright sources.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.57.3-58
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• 2021

We performed three-dimensional Monte Carlo dust scattering radiative transfer simulations for FUV light to obtain dust scattered FUV images and compared them with the observed FUV image obtained by FIMS/SPEAR and GALEX. From this, we find the scattering properties of interstellar dust in our Galaxy and suggest the intensity of extragalactic background light (EBL) at FUV wavelength. The best-fit values of the scattering properties of interstellar dust are albedo = 0.38^-0.04_+0.04, g-factor = 0.55^-0.15_+0.10, and EBL = 138^-23₊₂₁ CU for the allsky which are consistent well with the Milky Way dust model of Draine and direct measurements of Gardner et al., respectively. At the high Galactic latitude of |b|>10°, the observation is well fitted with the model of lower albedo = 0.35^-0.04_+0.06 and g-factor = 0.50^-0.20_+0.15. On the contrary, the scattering properties of interstellar dust show higher albedo = 0.43^-0.02_+0.02 and g-factor = 0.65^-0.15_+0.05 near the Galactic plane of |b|<10°. In the present simulation, recent three-dimensional distribution maps of interstellar dust in our Galaxy, stellar distances in the catalog of GAIA DR2, and FUV fluxes and/or spectral types in the TD-1 and Hipparcos star catalogs were used.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.36.2-36.2
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• 2018

Radiative transfer models were developed to understand the optical polarizations in edge-on galaxies, which are observed to occur even outside the geometrically thin dust disk, with a scale height of ~0.2 kpc. In order to reproduce the vertically extended polarization structure, we find it is essential to include a geometrically thick dust layer in the radiative transfer model, in addition to the commonly-known thin dust layer. The models include polarizations due to both dust scattering and dichroic extinction which is responsible for the observed interstellar polarization in the Milky Way. It is found that the magnetic fields in edge-on galaxies are in general vertical (or poloidal) except the central part, where the magnetic fields are mainly toroidal. We also find that the polarization level is enhanced if the clumpiness of the interstellar medium, and the dichroic extinction by vertical magnetic fields in the outer regions of the dust lane are included in the radiative transfer model. The predicted degree of polarization outside the dust lane was found to be consistent with that (ranging from 1% to 4%) observed in NGC 891.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.56.3-56.3
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• 2017

The Breakthrough Starshot initiative aims to launch gram-scale spacecraft to a speed of v~0.2c, capable of reaching Alpha Centauri and seeing the Earth-like exoplanet, Proxima b, from close distance, in about 20 years. However, a critical challenge for the initiative is the effects of interstellar matter and magnetic field to the relativistic spacecraft during the journey. In this talk, I will first present our evaluation for the damage to the spacecraft by interstellar gas and dust based on a detailed analysis of the interaction of a relativistic spacecraft with the ISM. Second, I will discuss the deflection and oscillation of spacecraft by interstellar magnetic fields. Third, I will discuss the gas drag fore at high energy regime and quantify its effect on the slowing down of the relativistic lightsails. Finally, we will discuss practical strategies to mitigate the damage by interstellar dust and to maintain the spacecraft aiming at the intended target.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.215-218
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• 2005

An atlas of high resolution (${\lambda}/{\Delta}{\lambda}$=45,000) profiles of interstellar atomic lines of K I (7665, 7699 ${\AA}$), Na I (D 1, D2), Ca II (H, K), Ca I (4227 ${\AA}$), molecular structures of CH, CH+, CN and the major diffuse interstellar bands at 5780 and 5797 ${\AA}$ based on ${\~}$300 echelle spectra of ${\~}$200 OB stars is presented. Relationships between the reddenings, distances and equivalent widths of NaI, CaII, KI, CH, CH+, CN and diffuse bands are discussed. The equivalent width of K I (7699 ${\AA}$) as well as of CH4300 ${\AA}$ / correlate very tightly with E(B- V) in contrast to the features of neutral sodium, ionized calcium and the molecular ion CH+. The equivalent widths of the Hand K lines of Call grow with distance at a rate ${\~}$250m${\AA}$ per 1 kpc. A similar relation for NaI is much less tight. The strengths of neutral potassium lines, molecular features and diffuse interstellar bands do not correlate practically with distance. These facts suggest that ionized calcium fills the interstellar space quite homogeneously while the other carriers mentioned above, especially K I, CH and these of diffuse bands occupy more and more compact volumes, also filled with dust grains. Apparently the carriers of narrow diffuse bands are spatially correlated with simple molecules and dust grains - all abundant in the so-called 'zeta' type clouds. The same environment seems to be hostile to the carriers of broad diffuse interstellar bands (DIEs) (like 5780 or 6284) and -to a certain extent - also to CaII, NaI and CH+.