• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.27.1-27.1
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• 2010

Globular cluster (GC) systems in most galaxies, particularly in ellipticals, show bimodal color distributions. Because broadband colors trace metallicity at old ages, this phenomenon has been commonly interpreted as bimodal metallicity distributions, implying the presence of two sub-populations in the globular cluster system within a galaxy. However, a new explanation has recently been proposed, in which the non-linear nature of color-metallicity relations induced by horizontal-branch stars can produce bimodal color distributions even from unimodal metallicity distributions. In this study, we put these two explanations to the test on the origin of color bimodality, using multi-band (U,B,V and I) photometry of globular clusters in NGC 1399, the central giant elliptical galaxy in Fornax galaxy cluster. We find significant changes in the morphology of color distributions when using different colors. The observation is also well reproduced by the Monte Carlo realization of GC color when a unimodal metallicity distribution and the theoretical non-linear color-metallicity relations are assumed. We discuss the implications regarding theories on galaxy formation and evolution.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.19-27
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• 2023

We present the results of using small telescopes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for observing variable stars and asteroids. Two telescopes, namely, 5" apochromatic refractor and 14" Schmidt-Cassegrain, at Al-Khatim Observatory (M44) were used for the observations. The targets were the three variable stars RR GEM, AG LMi, and DL CMi and the asteroid 22 Kalliope. We found a good consistency between our light curves and published ones for the calibration targets, i.e., the asteroid 22 Kalliope and the variable star RR GEM. According to previous studies, AG LMi has two suggested periods, 16.3 hours and 32.62 hours. Our results clearly confirm the second one, with a period of 32.6175 hours. The star DL CMi has several suggested periods as per previous studies, such as 4.0173 days, 1.9606 days, and 2.0086 days. Our observations confirm the first one, with a period of 4.0159 days. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of using small telescopes for observing variable stars and asteroids. This work provides some recommendations on using small telescopes for such observations.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.35.2-35.2
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• 2021

Blue straggler stars (BSs) are "rejuvenated" main sequence stars first recognized by Allan Sandage from his observation of the prominent northern globular cluster M3 in the year of 1953. BSs are now known to be present in diverse stellar environments including open clusters, globular clusters, dwarf galaxies, and even the field populations of the Milky Way. This makes them a very useful tool in a wide range of astrophysical applications: Particularly BSs are considered to have a crucial role in the evolution of stellar clusters because they affect on the dynamics, the binary population, and the history of the stellar evolution of the cluster they belong to. Here we report a part of the preliminary results from our ongoing research on the BSs in the two metal-poor globular clusters (GCs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), Hodge 11 and NGC1466. Using the high precision multi-band images obtained with the Advanced Camera for Survey (ACS) onboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), we extract time-series photometry to search for the signal of periodic variations in the luminosity of the BSs. Our preliminary results confirm that several BSs are intrinsic "short period (0.05 < P < 0.25 days)" variable stars with either pulsating or eclipsing types. We will discuss our investigation on the properties of those variable BS candidates in the context of the formation channels of these exotic main sequence stars, and their roles in the dynamical evolution of the host star clusters.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.295-306
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• 2016

We present the results of BV time-series photometry of the globular cluster NGC 288. Observations were carried out to search for variable stars using the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) 1.6-m telescopes and a 4k pre-science CCD camera during a test observation from August to December, 2014. We found a new SX Phe star and confirmed twelve previously known variable stars in NGC 288. For the semi-regular variable star V1, we newly determined a period of 37.3 days from light curves spanning 137 days. The light-curve solution of the eclipsing binary V10 indicates that the system is probably a detached system. The pulsation properties of nine SX Phe stars were examined by applying multiple frequency analysis to their light curves. We derived a new Period-Luminosity (P-L) relation, ${\langle}M_V{\rangle}=-2.476({\pm}0.300){\log}P-0.354({\pm}0.385)$, from six SX Phe stars showing the fundamental mode. Additionally, the period ratios of three SX Phe stars that probably have a double-radial mode were investigated; $P_{FO}/P_F=0.779$ for V5, $P_{TO}/P_{FO}=0.685$ for V9, $P_{SO}/P_{FO}=0.811$ for V11. This paper is the first contribution in a series assessing the detections and properties of variable stars in six southern globular clusters with the KMTNet system.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.78.3-78.3
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• 2015

About 70 high redshift quasars with $z{\geq}5$ have been discovered through combinations of standard broad-band filters to distinguish them from contaminating sources. However, among the discovered quasars so far, there is a redshift gap at $5{\leq}z{\leq}6$ due to the limitation of traditional filter sets and selection techniques. To understand the early mass growth of supermassive black holes and the final stage of the cosmic reionization, it is important to find a statistically meaningful sample of quasars with various physical properties. Here we suggest a new selection technique of high redshift quasars using medium-band filters: nine filters with bandwidths of 50nm and central wavelengths from 625 to 1025nm. Photometry with these medium-bands traces the spectral energy distribution (SED) of a source, similar to spectroscopy with R~15. We installed these filters to SED camera for QUasars in EArly uNiverse (SQUEAN) on the 2.1m telescope at McDonald Observatory, and conducted test observations of known high redshift quasars at $4.7{\leq}z{\leq}6.1$ and also dwarf stars for comparison. We found differences in SED shapes between high redshift quasars and dwarf stars, determined their locations on color-color diagrams, and demonstrated that the medium-band filters can enhance the efficiency of selecting robust quasar candidates in this redshift range. In this poster, we propose an effective selection method of high redshift quasars using these medium-band filters and discuss its effect on our high redshift quasar survey.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.89-110
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• 2018

Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) variability can be used to study the physics of the region in the vicinity of the central black hole. In this paper, we investigated intra-night optical variability of AGN in the COSMOS field in order to understand the AGN instability at the smallest scale. Observations were performed using the KMTNet on three separate nights for 2.5 to 5 hours at a cadence of 20 to 30 min. We find that the observation enables the detection of short-term variability as small as ~ 0.02 and 0.1 mag for R ~ 18 and 20 mag sources, respectively. Using four selection methods (X-rays, mid-infrared, radio, and matching with SDSS quasars), 394 AGN are detected in the $4deg^2$ field of view. After differential photometry and ${\chi}^2$-test, we classify intra-night variable AGN. The fraction of variable AGN (0-8%) is statistically consistent with a null result. Eight out of 394 AGN are found to be intra-night variable in two filters or two nights with a variability level of 0.1 mag, suggesting that they are strong candidates for intra-night variable AGN. Still they represent a small population (2%). There is no sub-category of AGN that shows a statistically significant intra-night variability.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.54.3-55
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• 2016

DEEP-South Scheduling and Data reduction System (DS SDS) consists of two separate software subsystems: Headquarters (HQ) at Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), and SDS Data Reduction (DR) at Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI). HQ runs the DS Scheduling System (DSS), DS database (DB), and Control and Monitoring (C&M) designed to monitor and manage overall SDS actions. DR hosts the Moving Object Detection Program (MODP), Asteroid Spin Analysis Package (ASAP) and Data Reduction Control & Monitor (DRCM). MODP and ASAP conduct data analysis while DRCM checks if they are working properly. The functions of SDS is three-fold: (1) DSS plans schedules for three KMTNet stations, (2) DR performs data analysis, and (3) C&M checks whether DSS and DR function properly. DSS prepares a list of targets, aids users in deciding observation priority, calculates exposure time, schedules nightly runs, and archives data using Database Management System (DBMS). MODP is designed to discover moving objects on CCD images, while ASAP performs photometry and reconstructs their lightcurves. Based on ASAP lightcurve analysis and/or MODP astrometry, DSS schedules follow-up runs to be conducted with a part of, or three KMTNet telescopes.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.217-218
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• 2015

In this work, we present the result of our follow-up observations of SDSS J092741.73+332959.1 and SDSS J130733.49+215636.7 using the 2.35 m Thai National Telescope and ULTRASPEC instrument. Both systems are listed among the recently found white dwarf main sequence binaries from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. SDSS J092741.73+332959.1 is a new PCEB with a period of 2.3 days, the longest orbital period known to date for white dwarf binaries. SDSS J130733.49+215636.7 is confirmed to be an eclipsing system with a period of 0.21 days from the Catalina Survey's light curve, however the parameters for the white dwarf are still uncertain. Our goal is to determine precise parameters for both systems using the Binary Maker 3 software. The observation for SDSS J0927+3329 was done on 9 January 2014 in the SDSS r' filter while the data for SDSS J1307+2156 were taken in the z' filter on 27 April 2014. Our models show that the red dwarf companions in both systems are well constrained inside their Roche Lobes. We find that the binary M2/M1 ratio in SDSS J0927+3329 is close to 0.5, with white dwarf and M-dwarf temperatures of 12000 K and 3300 K, respectively. Our preliminary result for SDSS J1307+2156 show that this system has an extreme mass ratio of 0.3. The white dwarf in this system has a temperature of 7500 K and the companion star has an effective temperature of 3150 K.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.319-326
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• 2006

We present light curves of a short period binary system BL Eridani. The light curves were observed with VRI filters by a 50cm wide field robotic telescope at Siding Spring Observatory (SSO), equipped with a 2K CCD camera, which was developed by Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI), and Yonsei University Observatory(YUO). The photometric observations were made on 6 nights by automatic operation mode and remote observation mode at SSO and KASI in Korea, respectively. We obtained new VRI CCD light curves and new 5 times of minima, and analyzed the light corves with the Wilson & Deviney (1971) binary 2005 version and derived the new photometric solutions. The mass ratio q=0.48 in this study shows different value with earlier investigators. According to the model analysis, it is considered that the BL Eri system is currently undergoing contact stage of the two binary components, rather than near-contact stage.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.49 no.1
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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.