• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.209-212
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• 2012

We present the results of the near-infrared (NIR) to mid-infrared (MIR) slit spectroscopic observations of the diffuse emission toward nine positions in the nearby irregular galaxy Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with the Infrared Camera (IRC) on board AKARI. The unique characteristic of AKARI/IRC provides a great opportunity to analyze variations in the unidentified infrared (UIR) bands based on continuous spectra from 2.5 to $13.4{\mu}m$ of the same slit area. The observed variation of $I_{3.3}/I_{11.3}$ suggests destruction of small-sized UIR band carriers, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in harsh environments. This result demonstrates that the UIR $3.3{\mu}m$ band provides us powerful information on the excitation conditions and/or the size distribution of PAHs, which is of importance for understanding the evolutionary process of hydrocarbon grains in the Universe. It also suggests a new diagnostic diagram of two band ratios, such as $I_{3.3}/I_{11.3}$ versus $I_{7.7}/I_{11.3}$, for the interstellar radiation conditions. We discuss on the applicability of the diagnostic diagram to other astronomical objects, comparing the LMC results with those observed in other galaxies such as NGC 6946, NGC 1313, and M51.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.59-61
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• 2017

The AKARI 9 and 18 µm diffuse maps reveal the all-sky distribution of the interstellar medium with relatively high spatial resolution of ~6". The zodiacal light is a dominant foreground component in the mid-infrared. Thus, removal of the zodiacal light is a critical issue to study low surface brightness Galactic diffuse emission. We carried out modeling of the zodiacal light based on the Kelsall model which is constructed from the COBE data. In the previous study, only a time-varying component of the zodiacal light brightness was used for determination of the model parameters. However, there remains a residual component of the zodiacal light around the ecliptic plane even after removal with the model. Therefore, instead of using a time-varying component, we use the absolute brightness of the zodiacal light and we find that the new model can better remove the residual component. As a result, the best-fit model parameters are changed from those in the previous study. We discuss the properties of the zodiacal light based on our new result.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.93-99
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• 2012

We present a 1.1mm emission map of the OMC1 region observed with AzTEC, a new large-format array composed of 144 silicon-nitride micromesh bolometers, that was in use at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). These AzTEC observations reveal dozens of cloud cores and a tail of filaments in a manner that is almost identical to the submillimeter continuum emission of the entire OMC1 region at 450 and $850{\mu}m$. We perform Fourier analysis of the image with a modified periodogram and the density power spectrum, which provides the distribution of the length scale of the structures, is determined. The expected value of the periodogram converges to the resulting power spectrum in the mean squared sense. The present analysis reveals that the power spectrum steepens at relatively smaller scales. At larger scales, the spectrum flattens and the power law becomes shallower. The power spectra of the 1.1mm emission show clear deviations from a single power law. We find that at least three components of power law might be fitted to the calculated power spectrum of the 1.1mm emission. The slope of the best fit power law, ${\gamma}{\approx}-2.7$ is similar to those values found in numerical simulations. The effect of beam size and the noise spectrum on the shape and slope of the power spectrum are also included in the present analysis. The slope of the power law changes significantly at higher spatial frequency as the beam size increases.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.47.2-47.2
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• 2014

Several studies have reported the presence of sodium excess objects having neutral atomic absorption lines at $5895{\AA}$ (NaD) and $8190{\AA}$ that are deeper than expected based on stellar population models that match the stellar continuum. The origin of these lines is therefore hotly debated. van Dokkum & Conroy proposed that low-mass stars (0.3M) are more prevalent in massive early-type galaxies, which may lead to a strong NaI 8190 line strength. It is necessary to test this prediction, however, against other prominent optical line indices such as NaD, Mgb, and Fe5270, which can be measured with a significantly higher signal-to-noise ratio than NaI 8190. We identified a new sample of roughly one thousand NaD excess objects (NEOs; ~8% of galaxies in the sample) based on NaD line strength in the redshift range 0.00$H{\beta}$ line strengths and significant emission lines, which are indicative of the presence of young stellar populations. This result implies that the presence of the interstellar medium and/or dust contributes to the increase in NaD line strengths observed for these galaxies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.43.1-43.1
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• 2020

Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is a young supernova remnant (SNR) where we observe the interaction of SNR blast wave with circumstellar medium. From the early optical studies, dense, slowly-moving, N-rich "quasi-stationary flocculi" (QSF) have been known. These are probably dense CNO-processed circumstellar knots that have been engulfed by the SNR blast wave. We have carried out near-infrared, high-resolution (R=45,000) spectroscopic observations of ~40 QSF, and here we present the result on a QSF knot (hereafter 'Knot 24') near the SNR boundary of Cas A. The average [Fe II] 1.644 um spectrum of Knot 24 has a remarkable shape with a narrow (~8 km/s) line superposed on the broad (~200 km/s) line emitted from shocked gas. The spatial morphology and the line parameters indicate that Knot 24 has been partially destroyed by a shock wave and that the narrow line is emitted from the unshocked material heated/ionized by the shock radiation. This is the first detection of the emission from the pristine circumstellar material of the Cas A supernova progenitor. We also detected H Br gamma and other [Fe II] lines corresponding to the narrow [Fe II] 1.644 um line. For the main clump where we can clearly identify the shock emission associated with the unshocked material, we analyze the observed line ratios using a shock model that includes radiative precursor. The analysis indicates that the majority of Fe in the unshocked material is in the gas phase, not depleted onto dust grains as in the general interstellar medium. We discuss the non-depletion of Fe in QSF and its implications on the immediate progenitor of the Cas A supernova.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.519-532
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• 2018

We investigated the effect of galactic plane toward molecular motion and kinematics in the northern filament (NF) of Orion Molecular Clouds Complex (OMC) using $^{12}CO$ (J=1-0) line. Observed data were from three areas including NF1, NF2, and NF3 in far-out order from galactic plane, for a total 270 hours by Seoul National University Radio Astronomy Observatory (SRAO) 6m telescope, with 2arcmin spatial resolution. galactic plane and OMC NF were connected to each other along the magnetic field at a density of 3% for $^{12}CO$ (J=2-1) and 9% for the case of dust. $^{12}CO$ (J=1-0), $^{12}CO$ (J=2-1), and interstellar dusts were distributed uniformly in NF3, but only in certain regions with relatively high density in NF1 and NF2. NF showed a single structure, partial shrinking motion in NF1, and rotational motion at the bottom of NF2, and spiral rotation associated with magnetic field only in NF3. The position-velocity analysis showed that the materials including $^{12}CO$ (J=1-0) could flow toward galactic plane along NF2 and NF3. However, there was no clear cause for the material to flow toward galactic plane in this result. Further detailed observation for rotational motion at the top of NF1 and NF2 might help to confirm it.