• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.39.1-39.1
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• 2012

Nuclear rings in barred galaxies are sites of active star formation (SF). We investigate SF and its feedback effects occurring in barred galaxies, for the first time, using high-resolution grid-based hydrodynamic simulations. The gaseous medium is assumed to be infinitesimally thin, isothermal, and unmagnetized. The SF recipes include a density threshold corresponding to the Jeans condition, a SF efficiency of 1%, and momentum feedback via Type II supernova events together with stellar-wind mass loss. To investigate various environments, we vary the gas sound speed as well as the efficiency of momentum injection in the in-plane direction. We find that when the sound speed is small, the surface density of a ring becomes largely independent of the azimuthal angle, resulting in star-forming regions distributed over the whole length of the ring. When the sound speed is large, on the other hand, the ring achieves the largest density at the contact points between the dust lanes and the ring where SF occurs preferentially, leading to a clear age gradient of star clusters in the azimuthal direction. Since rings shrink with time, a radial age gradient of star clusters naturally develop regardless of sound speed, consistent with observations. SF persists over 200 Myr, with an average rate of ${\sim}1.3M_{\odot}/yr$ similar to observed values. Rings gradually become hostile to SF as they lose gas into stars and turbulent motions dominate.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.163-172
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• 2011

An intensive analysis of 185 timings of WZ Cep, including our new three timings, was made to understand the dynamical picture of this active W UMa-type binary. It was found that the orbital period of the system has complexly varied in two cyclical components superposed on a secularly downward parabola over about 80y. The downward parabola, corresponding to a secular period decrease of $-9.{^d}97{\times}10^{-8}y^{-1}$, is most probably produced by the action of both angular momentum loss (AML) due to magnetic braking and mass-transfer from the massive primary component to the secondary. The period decrease rate of $-6.^{d}72{\times}10^{-8}y^{-1}$ due to AML contributes about 67% to the observed period decrease. The mass flow of about $5.16{\times}10^{-8}M_{\odot}y^{-1}$ from the primary to the secondary results the remaining 33% period decrease. Two cyclical components have an $11.^{y}8$ period with amplitude of $0.^{d}0054$ and a $41.^{y}3$ period with amplitude of $0.^{d}0178$. It is very interesting that there seems to be exactly in a commensurable 7:2 relation between their mean motions. As the possible causes, two rival interpretations (i.e., light-time effects (LTE) by additional bodies and the Applegate model) were considered. In the LTE interpretation, the minimum masses of $0.30M_{\odot}$ for the shorter period and $0.49M_{\odot}$ for the longer one were calculated. Their contributions to the total light were at most within 2%, if they were assumed to be main-sequence stars. If the LTE explanation is true for the WZ Cep system, the 7:2 relation found between their mean motions would be interpreted as a stable 7:2 orbit resonance produced by a long-term gravitational interaction between two tertiary bodies. In the Applegate model interpretation, the deduced model parameters indicate that the mechanism could work only in the primary star for both of the two period modulations, but could not in the secondary. However, we couldn't find any meaningful relation between the light variation and the period variability from the historical light curve data. At present, we prefer the interpretation of the mechanical perturbation from the third and fourth stars as the possible cause of two cycling period changes.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.152.1-152.1
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• 2011

We report preliminary results of long-slit near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy of Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) with moderate resolution of R ~ 2400. We obtained Jshort (1.04-1.26 micron) and Ks (2.02-2.31 micron) band spectra of 4 LBVs and 3 LBV candidates in Southern hemisphere using IRIS2, infrared imager and spectrograph, mounted on the 4-m Anglo-Australian Telescope. All targets are fairly bright in NIR so that we can obtain high signal-to-noise ratio for clear line detection and modeling. They are also widely distributed in the HR diagram so that we can compare the spectral properties of LBVs in different temperature and luminosity ranges. Among them, we present the results of two well-known LBVs AG Car and HR Car. Their spectra show similar properties with hydrogen, He I, and metallic lines such as Fe II and Mg II, most of them in emission. We discuss, in particular, the He I 1.083 micron lines formed in stellar wind because these two LBVs show large variation in their He I line intensities, compared to previous studies. Since the He I 1.083 line is known to be anticorrelated with the photometric variation of LBVs, strong line intensities with P-Cygni profiles in both stars indicate that they are now near the visual minimum phase. We model the obtained spectra using non-LTE atmosphere code CMFGEN of Hillier (1998) to derive stellar parameters such as wind velocity and mass loss rate, and discuss the long-term variability of stellar parameters of these LBVs. deduced from our otometric solution.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.151-161
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• 2012

An intensive analysis of 148 timings of V700 Cyg was performed, including our new timings and 59 timings calculated from the super wide angle search for planets (SWASP) observations, and the dynamical evidence of the W UMa W subtype binary was examined. It was found that the orbital period of the system has varied over approximately $66^y$ in two complicated cyclical components superposed on a weak upward parabolic path. The orbital period secularly increased at a rate of $+8.7({\pm}3.4){\times}10^{-9}$ day/year, which is one order of magnitude lower than those obtained by previous investigators. The small secular period increase is interpreted as a combination of both angular momentum loss (due to magnetic braking) and mass-transfer from the less massive component to the more massive component. One cyclical component had a $20.^y3$ period with an amplitude of $0.^d0037$, and the other had a $62.^y8$ period with an amplitude of $0.^d0258$. The components had an approximate 1:3 relation between their periods and a 1:7 ratio between their amplitudes. Two plausible mechanisms (i.e., the light-time effects [LTEs] caused by the presence of additional bodies and the Applegate model) were considered as possible explanations for the cyclical components. Based on the LTE interpretation, the minimum masses of 0.29 $M_{\odot}$ for the shorter period and 0.50 $M_{\odot}$ for the longer one were calculated. The total light contributions were within 5%, which was in agreement with the 3% third-light obtained from the light curve synthesis performed by Yang & Dai (2009). The Applegate model parameters show that the root mean square luminosity variations (relative to the luminosities of the eclipsing components) are 3 times smaller than the nominal value (${\Delta}L/L_{p,s}{\approx}0.1$), indicating that the variations are hardly detectable from the light curves. Presently, the LTE interpretation (due to the third and fourth stars) is preferred as the possible cause of the two cycling period changes. A possible evolutionary implication for the V700 Cyg system is discussed.