• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.123-126
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• 2016

Microlensing is generally thought to probe planetary systems only out to a few Einstein radii. Microlensing events generated by bound planets beyond about 10 Einstein radii generally do not yield any trace of their hosts, and so would be classified as free floating planets (FFPs). I show that it is already possible, using adaptive optics (AO), to constrain the presence of potential hosts to FFP candidates at separations comparable to the Oort Cloud. With next-generation telescopes, planets at Kuiper-Belt separations can be probed. Next generation telescopes will also permit routine vetting for all FFP candidates, simply by obtaining second epochs 4-8 years after the event. At present, the search for such hosts is restricted to within the "confusion limit" of θ_confus ∼ 0.25′′, but future WFIRST (Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope) observations will allow one to probe beyond this confusion limit as well.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.81.2-81.2
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• 2010

The origin of galactic angular momentum is commonly explained as a result of tidal torques of neighbouring protogalaxies on the forming galactic halo. In this context, the environment plays a preponderant role establishing the total angular momentum of present day galaxies. For the last four decades, most of the observational studies focused their attention on the spatial orientation of galaxies in filaments, groups or clusters, leaving behind the magnitude of the angular momentum. We have implemented a simple model to account for the spin of disk galaxies that allow us to obtain an estimate for any galaxy requiring a minimum of information. Applying this method to a sample of galaxies extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we have been studying angular momentum distributions of galaxies in different environments. In this talk I will present some results for galaxies immersed in different environments, spanning three orders of magnitude in environmental density, galaxies having nearby companions and clustered galaxies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.75.2-75.2
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• 2010

We have studied the statistical properties of turbulence in molecular clouds identified in the Boston University - Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (BU-FCRAO) Galactic Ring Survey (GRS). Toward this end, the probability density function (PDF) and velocity distribution were measured for about 50 molecular clouds. We found there exists a good correlation between the PDF width and the velocity dispersion for these molecular clouds. In order to investigate how general properties of astrophysical turbulence depends on the plasma parameters such as magnetic field strength and sonic Mach number, we performed three-dimensional MHD simulations. We then examined if the observed characteristics of interstellar turbulence are consistent with theoretical results from MHD simulations.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.63.1-63.1
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• 2010

Over its 30-year lifetime, UKIRT has been the world's leading telescope devoted exclusively to observations in the infrared. Its outstanding success over this period is attributable to a number of factors, foremost among which are the size (3.6m) and high quality of the mirror, the excellent site at the summit of Mauna Kea, and the deployment of unique, world-beating instrumentation. In recent years, as the UK has re-directed its investment in astronomical facilities towards ESO, UKIRT has focussed on wide-field imaging in the near infrared, and we are currently conducting a definitive programme known as the UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS). In this presentation I will describe UKIRT's current capabilities, its evolving operation, opportunities for Korean participation, and possibilities for its future development.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.31.3-31.3
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• 2017

The presence of a bar in disk galaxies indicates that galaxies reached their dynamical maturity, and secular evolution has started to play key roles in the evolution of disk galaxies. Numerical simulations predicted that as a barred galaxy evolves, the bar becomes longer by capturing its immediate neighbor disk stars. We test the hypothesis by exploring bar lengths and measuring the light deficit around the bar at various redshift. Supplementing already classified barred galaxies in later type disk galaxies ($$T{\geq_-}2$$, Sheth et al. 2008), we classify barred galaxies among earlier type disk galaxies (T<2) up to z~0.8 using F814W images from the Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS). We estimate the length of bars analytically for ~400 galaxies, and find that there is a slight decrease in bar length with redshift. We also find that longer bars show more prominent light deficit around the bar and this trend is stronger for nearby galaxies. Our results are consistent with the predictions from numerical simulations, and imply that the bar induced secular evolution is already in place since z~0.8. 

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.36.2-36.2
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• 2017

Massive stars (${\geq}8M_{\odot}$) are believed to experience core-collapse and finish their lives as supernova (SN) explosions. Astronomers operating the current SN survey facilities try to catch the first moments of SN explosions. Since neutrinos are emitted first from the SNe before the electromagnetic lights, any neutrino detections from more than two sites within around 10 seconds could be useful alert for early follow-up observations, especially for optical SN follow-up telescopes. In this talk, I will brief the current SN follow-up observation projects, what they want to find out and contribute to SN sciences. Focus will be on the early detection and early sciences on SNe, which is what the Korean Neutrino Telescope can contribute most importantly.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.58.1-58.1
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• 2018

The redshift range $1.4{\lesssim}z{\lesssim}2.5$ is often called the 'redshift desert' because of the difficulties in measuring spectroscopic redshifts due to the shifting of the major spectroscopic features into near-infrared wavelength (Steidel et al. 2004). One of the most efficient and fast way to select galaxies at this redshift range is the BzK technique designed by Daddi et al. (2004). Combining deep BVRz data from Deep Lens Survey with the wide-field (~4.08 deg2) K-band image, we select 1200 star-forming BzKs (sBzKs) and 120 passive BzKs (pBzKs) at K < 21.25. We discuss about the photometric redshifts, star formation rates, and stellar mass of the selected BzKs. Possible large scale structure at $1.4{\lesssim}z$ < 1.6 based on the spatial distribution of the BzKs is also introduced.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.95-99
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• 1998

We report preliminary results of an on-going survey of optically selected barred galaxies with $^{12}CO$(J=1-0) line. The entire sample is composed of about 100 bright barred galaxies ($B_T{\le}13$) with small inclination angle. Most of the galaxies are relatively nearby with receding speed less than 10,000 km/sec. In the first observing run, we have observed central parts of 18 galaxies and detected CO emissions from 5 galaxies (NGC521, 2525, 4262, 4900, and 7479). Most of these galaxies are not observed with CO previously, except for NGC7479 which has been studied at various wavelengths. The peak antenna temperature of detected galaxies ranges from about 30 to 300 mK.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.78.2-78.2
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• 2011

We utilize Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7 spectroscopy of ~600 emission line galaxies (ELGs) in the Virgo and Ursa Major clusters to investigate their chemical properties depending on the environments. We derived chemical abundances of galaxies using either a direct estimation of the electron temperature or empirical calibrations. We also estimated star formation rates (SFRs) using H alpha and GALEX ultraviolet (UV) luminosities. We see no significant difference of UV colors and SFRs of ELGs between the Virgo and Ursa Major, indicating weak dependence of their star formation activity on global cluster environment. We also discuss the segregation of gas-phase element abundances in cluster environment.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.47.1-47.1
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• 2014

We examine the effect of environment on star formation activity of a sample of galaxy group catalogue given in Tempel et al.(2012) constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 8. In order to compare galaxies in different environment, we classify galaxies into two groups: galaxies in low density environment and galaxies in high density environment. After matching colors and apparent magnitudes of the galaxies, we are left with 5912 galaxies in each of the environment category. The fraction of star-forming galaxies in low-density environment is ~34%, higher than ~15% in high-density environment. Star-forming galaxies in low density environment have a higher average SFR value than those in high density environment. The bulge-to-disk ratio for galaxies in two different environment shows bimodal distribution. Regardless of the environment, we find galaxies with high star formation rate despite their red (g-r) color, for which the origin enhancing their star formation rate is investigated.