• 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.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.37.1-37.1
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• 2015

It is suggested that relativistic jets associated with active galactic nuclei (AGNs) can have great impacts on the evolution of the host galaxy. However, the physical properties of AGN jets including the formation mechanism are not well known to date, and hence the AGN feedback on the host galaxy is yet poorly understood. OVV 1633+382 as a highly variable AGN source (a.k.a. blazer) with a compact core and very well developed jet components is an excellent laboratory to study the jet formation mechanism of radio-loud AGN. Near 2002, a major flare was reported at mm wavelength with a dramatic increase of the flux, which is likely to be followed by a dense and bright outflow. In order to probe the evolution of the innermost region of this radio-loud AGN, we have monitored using the Very Large Baseline Array (VLBA) and the Effelsberg 100m single-dish radio telescope in 12 epochs from 2002 and 2005. The observations were conducted at 22, 43 and 86 GHz in full polarization mode. In this work, we present the intensity and spectral index maps at 22 and 43 GHz from our monitoring observations. We probe the kinematics and geometry of individual jet components to discuss the evolution of the jet.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.60.1-60.1
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• 2014

In the center of an Active Galactic Nuclei(AGN) is a supermassive black hole which accretes matter from its surroundings. The radio-loud AGN launch two relativistic jets perpendicular to the accretion disk which terminates into radio lobes located up to megaparsec away. Blazars form a small subset of radio-loud AGNs with one of two relativistic jets pointing toward the observer's line of sight. Many blazars often show flares at different frequencies. And these flares at different frequencies are known that they often correlate with each other. In 2013 December, there was a gamma-ray flare in 3C 279, one of the brightest blazars, Dec 2013. So we want to reveal that whether this flare correlates with radio flare or not, and where the flare originate. With polarization observation at radio frequencies, we can study the physical properties of the magnetic field in the innermost regions of the relativistic jets. Therefore, we have conducted polarization monitoring of this source from Dec. 2013 to Jun. 2014 with KVN(Korea VLBI Network) radio telescopes at 22, 43 and 86GHz. Here we present the initial results of the monitoring of 3C 279. We prospect that we can reveal the origin of this gamma-ray flare by comparing with our radio data.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.60.2-60.2
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• 2016

We present recent results of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of gamma-ray bright active galactic nuclei (AGNs) using Korean VLBI Network (KVN) at 22, 43, 86, and 129~GHz bands, which are part of a KVN key science program; Interferometric Monitoring of Gamma-ray Bright AGNs (iMOGABA). We selected a total of 34 radio-loud AGNs of which 30 sources are gamma-ray bright AGNs, including 24 sources monitored by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope using the Large Area Telescope on board. The selected sources consist of 24 quasars, 7 BL Lacs, and 3 radio galaxies. In this talk, we summarize recent results of the iMOGABA, including results of single-epoch multi-frequency VLBI observations of the target sources, conducted during a 24-hr session on 2013 November 19 and 20. All observed sources were detected and imaged at all frequency bands with or without a frequency phase transfer technique which enabled to detect and image 12 faint sources at 129 GHz, except for 0218+357 which was detected for only one baseline at all frequency bands.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.453-455
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• 2015

In this paper we introduce the Plasma Physics of Active Galactic Nuclei project, which is an ongoing experiment with Korean VLBI Network (KVN) and KVN and VERA Array (KaVA) to study multi-frequency polarimetric properties on parsec scales of active galaxies. The goal of the project is to improve our understanding of fundamental jet physics, especially evolution of the relativistic outflow coupled with the large-scale magnetic field. We selected six radio-loud AGN as our targets. So far we (i) detected resolved emissions regions at 86 and 129 GHz on VLBI scales, (ii) constructed 2D spectral index maps of the outflows, and (iii) found polarizations at 22 and 43 GHz for a few targets. Here we present spectral index distributions of 3C 120 between 22 and 43 GHz and a linear polarization map of BL Lac at 43 GHz obtained with KVN.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.68.2-68.2
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• 2014

High Frequency Peakers (HFPs) are radio-loud Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), which are regarded as being in the earliest evolutionary phase (102-103 years) of radio galaxies. They are expected to be small in size (< ~1 kpc) compared to their host galaxies (~a few 10s kpc), and have convex spectra, which are peaking at high radio frequency (> 5 GHz). Their size and spectral shape are the most obvious supporting evidence of extremely young ages. HFPs are therefore ideal targets to probe the earliest stage of radio sources. To date however, the young radio source classification has been relying mainly on the spectral shape which usually does not cover high enough frequencies where the true peak flux is located. Hence HFPs are often confused with blazars which may show a similar spectral shape and apparent compactness but are a somewhat evolved form of AGNs. Therefore, we have been challenging to identify HFPs among the sample of 19 candidates using the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) which enables us to extend the radio spectrum baseline up to 22 and 43 GHz. These are higher than the frequencies used in most previous studies of HFPs, allowing us to select genuine HFPs. By long-term monitoring of 18 epochs, we have also inspected the variability of the sample to select out blazars which are highly variable yet with a similar radio spectrum. In this work, we present the light curves and spectral properties of the HFP candidates. We discuss the results of our re-identification of HFPs.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.271-273
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• 2017

The AKARI North Ecliptic Pole Deep Field is a natural location to accomplish deep extragalactic surveys. It is supported by comprehensive ancillary data extending from radio to X-ray wavelengths, which have been used to classify radio sources as radio-loud and radio-quiet objects and to create a catalogue of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). This has been achieved by using a radio-optical classification and colour-colour diagrams rather than the more usual way based on spectroscopy Furthermore, we explore whether this technique can be extended by using a far-Infrared (FIR) colour-colour diagram which has been used to identify 268 high redshift candidates.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.267-271
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• 2011

I developed an enhanced correction method for Ricean bias which occurs in linear polarization measurement. Two known methods for Ricean bias correction are reviewed. In low signal-to-noise area, the method based on the mode of the equation gives better representation of the fractional polarization. But a caution should be given that the accurate estimation of noise level, i.e. ${\sigma}$ of the polarized flux, is important. The maximum likelihood method is better choice for high signal-to-noise area. I suggest a hybrid method which uses the mode of the equation at the low signal-to-noise area and takes the maximum likelihood method at the high signal-to-noise area. A modified correction coefficient for the mode solution is proposed. The impact on the depolarization measure analysis is discussed.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.285-286
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• 2012

We combine data from two all-sky surveys, the Swift/Burst Alert Telescope 22 Month Source Catalog and the AKARI Point Source Catalogue, in order to study the connection between the hard X-ray (> 10 keV) and infrared (IR) properties of local active galactic nuclei (AGN). We find two photometric diagnostics are useful for source classification: one is the X-ray luminosity vs. IR color diagram, in which type 1 radio-loud AGN are well isolated from other AGN. The second one uses the X-ray vs. IR color-color diagram as a redshift-independent indicator for identifying Compton-thick (CT) AGN. Importantly, CT AGN and starburst galaxies in composite systems can also be separated in this plane based upon their hard X-ray fluxes and dust temperatures. This diagram may be useful as a new indicator to classify objects in new surveys such as with WISE and NuSTAR.