• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.177-187
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• 2003

Active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are distant, powerful sources of radiation over the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves to gamma-rays. There is much evidence that they are driven by gravitational accretion of stars, dust, and gas, onto central massive black holes (MBHs) imprisoning anywhere from $\~$1 to $\~$10,000 million solar masses; such objects may naturally form in the centers of galaxies during their normal dynamical evolution. A small fraction of AGNs, of the radio-loud type (RLAGNs), are somehow able to generate powerful synchrotron-emitting structures (cores, jets, lobes) with sizes ranging from pc to Mpc. A brief summary of AGN observations and theories is given, with an emphasis on RLAGNs. Preliminary results from the imaging of 10000 extragalactic radio sources observed in the MITVLA snapshot survey, and from a new analytic theory of the time-variable power output from Kerr black hole magnetospheres, are presented. To better understand the complex physical processes within the central engines of AGNs, it is important to confront the observations with theories, from the viewpoint of analyzing the time-variable behaviours of AGNs - which have been recorded over both 'short' human ($10^0-10^9\;s$) and 'long' cosmic ($10^{13} - 10^{17}\;s$) timescales. Some key ingredients of a basic mathematical formalism are outlined, which may help in building detailed Monte-Carlo models of evolving AGN populations; such numerical calculations should be potentially important tools for useful interpretation of the large amounts of statistical data now publicly available for both AGNs and RLAGNs.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.59-64
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• 2010

The core and global properties of the early-type ("red sequence") galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax clusters are examined using high-quality HST/ACS imaging for 143 galaxies. Rather than dividing neatly into disparate populations having distinct formation and/or evolution histories, many of the core and global properties of these galaxies show smooth and systematic variations along the galaxy luminosity function. The few examples of the rare class of compact elliptical galaxies in our sample all show properties that are strongly suggestive of tidal stripping by massive galaxies; if so, then these systems should not be viewed as populating the low-luminosity extension of so-called "normal" elliptical sequences. These results demonstrate that complete and/or unbiased samples are a pre-requisite for identifying the physical mechanisms that gave rise to the early-type galaxies we observe locally, and how these mechanisms varied with mass and environment.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.275-279
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• 2012

We investigate the mid-infrared (MIR) to far-infrared (FIR) properties of a nearly complete sample of local active galactic nuclei (AGNs) detected in the Swift/Burst Alert telescope (BAT) all-sky hard X-ray (14-195 keV) survey, based on the cross correlation with the infrared survey catalogs of AKARI, IRAS and WISE. Out of 135 non-blazar AGNs in the Swift/BAT 9-month catalog, we obtain the MIR photometric data for 128 sources in either the 9, 12, 18, 22, and $25{\mu}m$ band. We find a good correlation between their hard X-ray and MIR luminosities ranging three orders of magnitude (42 < log ${\lambda}L_{\lambda}$(9, $18{\mu}m$) < 45), which is tighter than that with the FIR luminosities at $90{\mu}m$. Both X-ray unabsorbed and absorbed AGNs follow the same correlation, implying isotropic infrared emission, as expected in clumpy dust tori models rather than homogeneous ones.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.74.1-74.1
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• 2019

We present an ongoing imaging survey of the host galaxies of hard X-ray-selected active galactic nuclei (AGNs) observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The snapshot images are taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys through an HST gap-filler program. The sample, selected from the 70-month Swift-BAT X-ray source catalog, represents an unbiased and uniform AGN population, which will enable us to test the AGN unification model and explore the physical connection between host galaxies and central supermassive black holes. We also plan to investigate the AGN triggering mechanism by examining merger signatures and searching for dual nuclei. We present the pipeline for imaging analysis and the current status of the survey.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.271-274
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• 2012

We present the result of systematic AKARI IRC infrared $2.5-5{\mu}m$ spectroscopy of >100 nearby luminous infrared galaxies, to investigate the energetic roles of starbursts and optically-elusive buried AGNs. Based on (1) the equivalent widths of the $3.3{\mu}m$ PAH emission features, (2) the optical depths of absorption features, and (3) continuum slopes, we can disentangle emission from starbursts and AGNs. We find that the energetic importance of buried AGNs increases with increasing galaxy infrared luminosities, suggesting that the AGN-starburst connections (and thereby possible AGN feedback to host galaxies) are luminosity dependent.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.121-124
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• 2005

High resolution images of the nuclear regions of nearby galaxies show that nuclear spirals are preponderant in normal galaxies as well as in active galaxies. These nuclear spirals, especially the grand-design nuclear spirals are found to be formed by the gas flow driven by the bar. Hydrodynamical simulations exploring a wide range of parameter space show that the morphology of nuclear spirals depends not only on the inner dynamics but on the global dynamics resulting from the global mass distribution of galaxies. Thus, the nuclear morphology can be a diagnostic tool for the inner dynamics of galaxies when the global mass distribution is taken into account.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.59-65
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• 2011

A small number of active galactic nuclei are known to exhibit prominent double peak emission profiles that are well-fitted by a relativistic accretion disk model. We develop a Monte Carlo code to compute the linear polarization of a double peaked broad emission line arising from Thomson scattering. A Keplerian accretion disk is adopted for the double peak emission line region and the geometry is assumed to be Schwarzschild. Far from the accretion disk where flat Minkowski geometry is appropriate, we place an azimuthally symmetric scattering region in the shape of a spherical shell sliced with ${\Delta}{\mu}=0.1$. Adopting a Monte Carlo method we generate line photons in the accretion disk in arbitrary directions in the local rest frame and follow the geodesic paths of the photons until they hit the scattering region. The profile of the polarized flux is mainly determined by the relative location of the scattering region with respect to the emission source. When the scattering region is in the polar direction, the degree of linear polarization also shows a double peak structure. Under favorable conditions we show that up to 0.6% linear polarization may be obtained. We conclude that spectropolarimetry can be a powerful probe to reveal much information regarding the accretion disk geometry of these active galactic nuclei.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.193-195
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• 2017

We demonstrate the luminosity dependence of the covering factor (CF) of active galactic nuclei (AGNs), based on AKARI mid-infrared all-sky survey catalog. Combining the AKARI with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic data, we selected 243 galaxies at $9{\mu}m$ and 255 galaxies at $18{\mu}m$. We then identified 64 AGNs at $9{\mu}m$ and 105 AGNs at $18{\mu}m$ by their optical emission lines. Following that, we estimated the CF as the fraction of type 2 AGN in all AGNs. We found that the CF decreased with increasing $18{\mu}m$ luminosity, regardless of the choice of type 2 AGN classification criteria.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.37.1-37.1
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• 2013

We present a result of a statistical studies on nuclear activities of compact group galaxies. It is suggested that the galaxy interaction can trigger the nuclear activity by producing the gas inflow to the center of galaxies. To understand the connection between galaxy interaction and nuclear activity, we study the fraction of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) host galaxies in compact groups, known as the most favored environment for galaxy interaction. We select 59 spectroscopically confirmed compact groups in the SDSS DR6. Using the emission line ratio, we determine the spectral types of compact group galaxies and obtain the fraction of AGN-host galaxies. We compare this fraction with those in other galaxy environments. For the early type galaxies, we find that the AGN fraction of compact group galaxies are lower than field galaxies, but higher than cluster galaxies. On the other hand, the AGN fraction of compact group galaxies is similar to those for field and cluster environment for the late type galaxies. Implications of this result will be discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.399-412
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• 2015

We study the radio properties at 1.4 GHz of Seyfert galaxies with strong forbidden highionization lines (FHILs), selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey - a large-sized sample containing nearly equal proportion of diverse range of Seyfert galaxies showing similar redshift distributions compiled by using the Very Large Array survey images. The radio detection rate is low, 49%, which is lower than the detection rate of several other known Seyfert galaxy samples. These galaxies show low star formation rates and the radio emission is dominated by the active nucleus with ≤10% contribution from thermal emission, and possibly, none show evidence for relativistic beaming. The radio detection rate, distributions of radio power, and correlations between radio power and line luminosities or X-ray luminosity for narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1), Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies are consistent with the predictions of the unified scheme hypothesis. Using correlation between radio and [O III] λ 5007 Å luminosities, we show that ∼8% sample sources are radio-intermediate and the remaining are radio-quiet. There is possibly an ionization stratification associated with clouds on scales of 0.1-1.0 kpc, which have large optical depths at 1.4GHz, and it seems these clouds are responsible for free-free absorption of radio emission from the core; hence, leading to low radio detection rate for these FHIL-emitting Seyfert galaxies