• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.38.1-38.1
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• 2017

Symbiotic stars are long-orbital-period interacting binaries characterized by extended emission over the whole electromagnetic range and by complex photometric and spectroscopic variability. In this contribution, I will present some high-cadence, long-term optical light curves of confirmed and candidate symbiotic stars in the Magellanic Clouds. By careful visual inspection and combined time series analysis techniques, we investigate for the first time in a systematic way the photometric properties of these astrophysical objects, trying in particular to distinguish the evolutionary status of the cool component, to provide its first-order pulsation ephemeris and to link all this information with the physical parameters of the binary system as a whole. Finally, I will discuss a new, promising photometric technique, potentially able to discover Symbiotic Stars in the Local Group of Galaxies without the recourse to costly spectroscopic follow-up.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.50.4-51
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• 2015

Current and planned deep multicolor wide-area cosmological surveys will map in detail the spatial distribution of galaxies and quasars over unprecedented volumes, and provide a number of objects with photometric redshifts more than an order of magnitude bigger than that of spectroscopic redshifts. Photometric information is statistically more significant for studying cosmological evolution, dark energy, and the expansion history of the universe at a fraction of the cost of a full spectroscopic survey, but intrinsically carries a bias due to noise in the distance estimates. We provide convolution- and deconvolution-based algorithms capable of removing this bias -- thus able to exploit the full cosmological information -- in order to reconstruct intrinsic distributions and correlations between distance-dependent quantities. We then show some direct applications of our techniques to the VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey (VIPERS) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) datasets. Our methods impact a broader range of studies, when at least one distance-dependent quantity is involved; hence, they will be useful for upcoming large-volume surveys, some of which will only have photometric information.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.83-85
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• 2017

We conducted an unbiased near- to mid-infrared imaging and spectroscopic survey of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) as a part of the AKARI Mission Program "Large-area Survey of the LMC" (LSLMC, PI: T. Onaka). An area of about 10 square degrees of the LMC was observed by five photometric bands (3.2, 7, 11, 15, and $24{\mu}m$) and a low-resolution slitless prism ($2-5{\mu}m$, R ~20) equipped with AKARI /IRC. We constructed and publicly released photometric and spectroscopic catalogues of point sources in the LMC based on the survey data. The catalogues provide a large number of near-infrared spectral data, coupled with complementary broadband photometric data. Combined use of the present AKARI LSLMC catalogues with other infrared point source catalogues of the LMC possesses scientific potential that can be applied to various astronomical studies.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.15-39
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• 2014

Polarization is a basic property of light and is fundamentally linked to the internal geometry of a source of radiation. Polarimetry complements photometric, spectroscopic, and imaging analyses of sources of radiation and has made possible multiple astrophysical discoveries. In this article I review (i) the physical basics of polarization: electromagnetic waves, photons, and parameterizations; (ii) astrophysical sources of polarization: scattering, synchrotron radiation, active media, and the Zeeman, Goldreich-Kylafis, and Hanle effects, as well as interactions between polarization and matter (like birefringence, Faraday rotation, or the Chandrasekhar-Fermi effect); (iii) observational methodology: on-sky geometry, influence of atmosphere and instrumental polarization, polarization statistics, and observational techniques for radio, optical, and $X/{\gamma}$ wavelengths; and (iv) science cases for astronomical polarimetry: solar and stellar physics, planetary system bodies, interstellar matter, astrobiology, astronomical masers, pulsars, galactic magnetic fields, gamma-ray bursts, active galactic nuclei, and cosmic microwave background radiation.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.68.2-68.2
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• 2016

We present the variability and time lag measurements of PG 0934+013 based on the photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaign over two years. We obtained 46 epochs of data from the spectroscopic campaign, which was carried out using the South African Large Telescope with 1 week cadence over two sets of 4 month-long observing period, while we obtained 80 epochs of B band data from the campaign. Due to the six month gap between two campaigns, we separately measured the time lag of the $H{\beta}$ emission line by comparing the emission line light curve with the B band continuum light curve using the cross-correlation function techniques. We determined the time lags and black hole mass.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.741-743
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• 2015

We have designed and built three cost effective observatories, in distinct models, which can house Schmidt-Cassegrain type small telescopes having aperture sizes up to 16 inches. Using the available small telescopes, we provided the people of Manipura State in the far north-east corner of India the opportunity to observe directly with their own eyes the rare, spectacular events of the solar eclipse of January 15, 2010, lunar eclipse of December 10, 2011 and the transit of Venus of June 6, 2012. Apart from sharing a platform with the public for astronomy education and popularization through public outreach programs such as workshops, seminars and night watch programs, we have also developed a laboratory infrastructure and gained expertise in observational techniques based on photoelectric photometry, CCD imaging, CCD photometry and spectroscopy. Our team has become a partner in the ongoing international 'Orion project' headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, USA which will be producing high quality photometric and spectroscopic data for five stars in the Orion constellation, namely Betelgeuse (alpha Orionis), Rigel (beta Orionis), Mintaka (delta Orionis), Alnilam (epsilon Orionis) and Alnitak (zeta Orionis). In the present paper, the authors would like to give a detailed report of their activities for the growth of astronomy in the state of Manipur, India.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.303-306
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• 2005

Transient luminous events (TLEs; sprites, elves, jets and etc.) are lightning-related optical flashes occurring above thunderstorms. Since the first discovery of sprites in 1989, scientists have learned a great deal about the morphological, spectroscopic and electromagnetic characteristics of TLEs through ground and spacecraft campaigns. However, most of the TLE studies were based on events recorded over US High Plains. To elucidate the possible biasing effects, space-borne observations are needed and have their merits. Imager of sprites and Upper Atmospheric Lightning (ISUAL) on the FORMOSAT-2 satellite is the first instrument to carry out a true global measurement of TLEs from a low- earth orbit. In this short paper, we apply a common astronomical data analysis technique, two-color diagram, on the ISUAL spectrophotometer (SP) data. By choosing appropriated bandpasses and converting the measured flux of TLEs into the unit of magnitude, two-color diagrams of TLEs can be constructed. We demonstrate that two-color diagrams, which were constructed from the narrow-band spectrophotometer data, can be used to classify different types of TLEs and trace their temporal evolution. The amount of reddening due to Earth's atmosphere can also be estimated from two-color diagrams assembled from the broad-band spectrophotometer data.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.227-233
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• 2019

We report the performance of the 13.7-meter Taeduk Radio Astronomy Observatory (TRAO) radio telescope. The telescope has been equipped with a new receiver, SEQUOIA-TRAO, a new backend system, FFT2G, and a new VxWorks operating system. The receiver system features a 16-pixel focal plane array using high-performance MMIC preamplifiers; it shows very low system noise levels, with system noise temperatures from 150 K to 450 K at frequencies from 86 to 115 GHz. With the new backend system, we can simultaneously obtain 32 spectra, each with a velocity coverage of 163 km s^-1 and a resolution of 0.04 km s^-1 at 115 GHz. The new operating system, VxWorks, has successfully handled the LMTMC-TRAO observing software. The main observing method is the on-the-fly (OTF) mapping mode; a position-switching mode is available for small-area observations. Remote observing is provided. The antenna surface has been newly adjusted using digital photogrammetry, achieving a rms surface accuracy better than 130 ㎛. The pointing uncertainty is found to be less than 5" over the entire sky. We tested the new receiver system with multi-frequency observations in OTF mode. The aperture efficiencies are 43±1%, 42±1%, 37±1%, and 33±1%, the beam efficiencies are 45±2%, 48±2%, 46±2%, and 41±2% at 86, 98, 110, and 115 GHz, respectively.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.54.1-54.1
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• 2016

Multi-wavelength variability is a staple of active galactic nuclei (AGN). Optical variability probes the nature of the central engine of AGN at smaller linear scales than conventional imaging and spectroscopic techniques. Previous studies have shown that optical variability is more prevalent at longer timescales and at shorter wavelengths. Intra-night variability can be explained through the damped random walk model but small samples and inhomogeneous data have made constraining this model hard. To understand the properties and physical mechanism of intra-night optical variability, we are performing the KMTNet Active Nuclei Variability Survey (KANVaS). Using KMTNet, we aim to study the intra-night variability of ~1000 AGN at a magnitude depth of ~19mag in R band over a total area of ${\sim}24deg^2$ on the sky. Test data in the COSMOS, XMM-LSS, and S82-2 fields was obtained over 4, 6, and 8 nights respectively during 2015, in B, V, R, and I bands. Each night was composed of 5-13 epoch with ~30 min cadence and 80-120 sec exposure times. As a pilot study, we analyzed data in the COSMOS field where we reach a magnitude depth of ~19.5 in R band (at S/N~100) with seeing varying between 1.5-2.0 arcsec. We used the Chandra-COSMOS catalog to identify 166 AGNs among 549 AGNs at B<23. We performed differential photometry between the selected AGN and nearby stars, achieving photometric uncertainty ~0.01mag. We employ various standard time-series analysis tools to identify variable AGN, including the chi-square test. Preliminarily results indicate that intra-night variability is found for ~17%, 17%, 8% and 7% of all X-ray selected AGN in the B, V, R, and I band, respectively. The majority of the identified variable AGN are classified as Type 1 AGN, with only a handful of Type 2 AGN showing evidence for variability. The work done so far confirms there are more variable AGN at shorter wavelengths and that intra-night variability most likely originates in the accretion disk of these objects. We will briefly discuss the quality of the data, challenges we encountered, solutions we employed for this work, and our updated future plans.