• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 1996

31 white dwarfs in 10 open clusters are examined, and their maximum mass and the upper mass limit of their progenitors are obtained as $1.22\pm0.02M_{\bigodot}\;and\;7.2\pm0.4M_{\bigodot}$ respectively, suggesting that the upper mass limit of white dwarfs is less than 8M_{\bigodot}$ The final mass of white dwarfs shows no clear correlation with the initial mass of their progenitors, and it is found that a deficient gap of initial mass exists between $\~4\;and\;~5.2M_{\bigodot}$. This gap seems to correspond to the mass range for carbon detonation or deflagration. The total expected numbers of white dwarfs are $11\~22$ in Hyades with 7 known white dwarfs and 17 in Praesepe with 8 known white dwarfs. These known white dwrfs are all younger than the others in both clusters. But one known white dwarf in Pleiades is older one among $2\~3$ expected white dwarfs.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.175-180
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• 2012

White dwarf stars have played important roles in rather diverse areas of astrophysics. This paper outlines how these stellar remnants, especially those in widely separated "fragile" binaries, have provided unique leverage on difficult astrophysical problems such as the ages of stars, the structure and evolution of the Galaxy, the nature of dark matter and even the discovery of dark energy.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.45-59
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• 1995

In the best observed Pleiades cluster, the luminosity function(LF) and mass function(MF) for main sequence(MS) stars extended to $Mv{\approx}15.5(V{\approx}21)$ are very similar to the initial luminosity function(ILF) and initial mass function(IMF) for field stars in the solar neighborhood showing a bump at log $m{\simeq}-0.05$ and a dip at log $m{\simeq}-0.12$. This dip is equivalent to the Wielen dip appearing in the LF for the field stars. The occurence of these bump and dip is independent of adopted mass-luminosity relation(MLR) . and their characteristics could be explained by a time-dependent bimodal IMF. The model with this IMF gives a total cluster mass of $\~700M_\bigodot,\;\~25$ brown dwarfs and $\~3$ white dwarfs if the upper mass limit of progenitor of white dwarf is greater than $4.5M_\bigodot$. The cluster age on the basis of LF for brightest stars is given by $\~8\times10^7yr$ and all stars in the cluster lie along the single age sequence in the C-M diagram without showing a large dispersion from the sequence.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.169-173
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• 2012

A summary is presented of what is currently known about the surface temperatures of accreting white dwarfs (WDs) detected in non-magnetic and magnetic cataclysmic variables (CVs) based upon synthetic spectral analyses of far ultraviolet data. A special focus is placed on WD temperatures above and below the CV period gap as a function of the orbital period, $P_{orb}$. The principal uncertainty of the temperatures for the CV WDs in the $T_{eff}-P_{orb}$ distribution, besides the distance to the CV, is the mass of the WD. Only in eclipsing CV systems, an area of eclipsing binary studies, which was so central to Robert H. Koch's career, is it possible to know CV WD masses with high precision.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.333-341
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• 2015

A search for hot and bright white dwarfs (WDs) in the Milky Way globular clusters M13 (NGC 6205) and M22 (NGC 6656) is carried out using the deep and homogeneous V I photometric catalog of Anderson et al. and and Sarajedini et al., based on data taken with the ACS/WFC aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). V versus V − I color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of M13 and M22 are constructed and numerous spurious detections are rejected according to their photometric quality parameters qfit(V ) and qfit(I). In the case of M13, further radial restriction is applied to reject central stars with higher photometric errors due to central crowding. From each resultant V versus V −I CMD, sixteen and thirteen WD candidates are identified in M13 and M22, respectively. They are identified as stellar objects in the accompanying ACS/WFC images and are found to be randomly distributed across the central regions of M13 and M22. Their positions in the CMDs are in the bright part of the DA WD cooling sequences indicating that they are true WDs. In order to confirm their nature, follow-up spectroscopic observations are needed.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.265-266
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• 2015

A search for luminous white dwarfs (WDs) in several nearby Galactic globular clusters (GCs) was carried out using the deep and homogeneous photometric catalog of Galactic GCs taken with the ACS/WFC aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) by Sarajedini et al. and Anderson et al- It resulted in the identification of luminous WD candidates in the GCs M13 (NGC 6205) and M22 (NGC 6656). The purpose of the present study is to identify luminous WDs in the deep and homogeneous V versus V - I color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of several nearby Galactic GCs taken with the ACS/WFC aboard the HST. Using photometric data for the GCs M13 and M22 that are now in the public domain, the V versus V - I CMDs of the GCs M13 and M22 were constructed. Many spurious detections in the CMDs were removed using the photometric quality parameters qfit(V) and qfit(I), and a radial restriction was applied to the CMDs to remove the central stars with higher photometric errors due to central crowding. From each resultant V versus V - I CMD of the GCs M13 and M22, a dozen or so luminous WD candidates were identified. They were confirmed as stellar objects in the accompanying ACS/WFC images and their positions in the CMDs were in the bright part of the DA WD cooling curve. Therefore, the luminous WD candidates in the GCs M13 and M22 seem to be true luminous WDs, and spectroscopic observations are needed to confirm their true identity.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.89-96
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• 1992

Recent spectroscopic observations indicate concentration of dark masses in the nuclei of nearby galaxies. This has been usually interpreted as the presence of massive black holes in these nuclei. Alternative explanations such as the dark cluster composed of low mass stars (brown dwarfs) or dark stellar remnants are possible provided that these systems can be stably maintained for the age of galaxies. For the case of low mass star cluster, mass of individual stars can grow to that of conventional stars in collision time scale. The requirement of collision time scale being shorter than the Hubble time gives the minimum cluster size. For typical conditions of M31 or M32, the half-mass radii of dark clusters can be as small as 0.1 arcsecond. For the case of clusters composed of stellar remnants, core-collapse and post-collapse expansion are required to take place in longer than Hubble time. Simple estimates reveal that the size of these clusters also can be small enough that no contradiction with observational data exists for the clusters made of white dwarfs or neutron stars. We then considered the possible outcomes of interactions between the black hole and the surrounding stellar system. Under typical conditions of M31 or M32, tidal disruption will occur every $10^3$ to $10^4$ years. We present a simple scenario for the evolution of stellar debris based on basic principles. While the accretion of stellar material could produce large amount of radiation so that the mass-to-light ratio can become too small compared to observational values it is too early to rule out the black hole model because the black hole can consume most of the stellar debris in time scale much shorter than mean time between two successive tidal disruptions. Finally we outline recent effort to simulate the process of tidal disruption and subsequent evolution of the stellar debris numerically using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics technique.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.251-254
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• 2015

Low resolution spectra of Nova Delphini 2013 (V339 Del) in the optical range have been obtained at Bosscha Observatory, Indonesia during its maximum light (V = 4.3). Spectra were observed from August 16 to 27, 2013. The GAO-ITB RTS 20.3 cm telescope, and SBIG DSS-7 spectrograph and SBIG ST-7 XE as the detector have been employed throughout the observations. The spectra show P-Cygni profiles in Balmer, NaI'D' and Fe II lines, from which we determined shell expansion velocities of $1421.66{\pm}39.18km/s$, $1227.54{\pm}21.57km/s$ and 1402.86 km/s, respectively. Our spectroscopic observations followed the spectral evolution of V339 Del from the pre-maximum phase to early Orion phase. The characteristics of the nova Delphini 2013 resembles those of Fe II-type novae.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.175-178
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• 2015

Due to the lack of an accretion disk in a polar (magnetic cataclysmic variable, MCV), the material transferred from the secondary is directly accreted onto the white dwarf, forming an accretion stream and a hot spot on the white-dwarf component. During the eclipses, different light components can be isolated. Therefore, the monitoring of eclipsing polars could provide valuable information on several modern astrophysical problems, e.g., CVs as planetary hosting stars, mass transfer and mass accretion in CVs, and the magnetic activity of the most rapidly rotating cool dwarfs. In the past five years, we have monitored about 10 eclipsing polars (e.g., DP Leo and HU Aqr) using several 2-m class telescopes and about 100 eclipse profiles were obtained. In this paper, we will introduce the progress of our research group at YNOs. The first direct evidence of variable mass transfer in a CV is obtained and we show that it is the dark-spot activity that causes the mass transfer in CVs. Magnetic activity cycles of the cool secondary were detected and we show that the variable mass transfer is not caused by magnetic activity cycles. These results will shed light on the structure and evolution of close binary stars (e.g., CVs and Algols).

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.76.2-76.2
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• 2010

We present the final results of our study on the mass-loss rate of donor stars in cataclysmic variables (CVs). Observed donors are oversized in comparison with those of isolated single stars of the same mass, which is thought to be a consequence of the mass loss. Using the empirical mass-radius relation of CVs and the homologous approximation for changes in effective temperature T2, orbital period P, and luminosity of the donor with the stellar radius, we find the semi-empirical mass-loss rate M2dot of CVs as a function of P. The derived M2dot is at ~10-9.5-10-10 $M\odot$/yr and depends weakly on P when P > 90 min, while it declines very rapidly towards the minimum period when P < 90 min. The semi-empirical M2dot is significantly different from, and has a less-pronounced turnaround behavior with P than suggested by previous numerical models. The semi-empirical P-M2dot relation is consistent with the angular momentum loss due to gravitational wave emission, and strongly suggests that CV secondaries with 0.075 $M\odot$ < M2 < 0.2 $M\odot$ are less than 2 Gyrs old. When applied to selected eclipsing CVs, our semi-empirical mass-loss rates are in good agreement with the accretion rates derived from the effective temperatures T1 of white dwarfs. Based on the semi-empirical M2dot, SDSS 1501 and 1433 systems that were previously identified as post-bounce CVs have yet to reach the minimal period.