• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.144.2-144.2
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• 2011

A dwarf irregular galaxy IC10 in the Local Group is the nearest starburst galaxy, playing an important role revealing the details of starburst. It is located close to the Galactic plane so that it suffers from severe foreground reddening. Therefore much less is known about the property of this galaxy compared with other galaxies in the Local Group. So are star clusters in this galaxy. We present a photometric study of the star clusters in IC10. 57 star clusters are already found from HST images in previous studies, and we newly found 15 star clusters using Local Group Survey data and SUBARU/Suprime-Cam data. We derive UBVRI integrated photometry of these star clusters from the images from Local Group Survey data and JHKs photometry taken with SUBARU/MOIRCS. Then we derive age and mass of these clusters using the spectral energy distribution fitting with the simple stellar population models. We discuss the photometric and physical properties of these star clusters and its implication.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.41.2-41.2
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• 2010

We present ultraviolet (UV) properties of dwarf galaxies in the Ursa Major cluster comparing with those in the Virgo cluster. We have constructed SDSS DR7/GALEX GR5 matched optical/UV catalog for dwarf galaxies with various morphologies in these two clusters. Membership of galaxies belonging to the Ursa Major cluster was made by hierarchical grouping method using SDSS spectroscopic data. We classified morphologies of dwarf galaxies using the combination of visual inspection of the images and spectral features returned from SDSS data. In contrast to the case of the Virgo cluster, majority of dwarf galaxies in the Ursa Major cluster lies in the blue cloud of the UV color-magnitude relations (CMRs) implying strong recent or on-going star formation. We discuss the cluster environment on the star formation history and evolution of dwarf galaxies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.48.2-48.2
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• 2012

We present preliminary results of a statistical study on the nuclear activity of compact group galaxies. What triggers Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is still a puzzling problem. One of the suggested AGN triggering mechanisms is galaxy-galaxy interaction. Many simulations have shown that gas can be supplied to the center of galaxies during galaxy encounters. In this regard, compact groups of galaxies are an ideal laboratory for studying the connection between galaxy interaction and nuclear activity because of their high densities and low velocity dispersions. We study the environmental dependence of the activity in galactic nuclei using 59 compact groups in the SDSS DR6. Using the emission line data, we classify galaxies in the compact groups. We find that 19% of the compact group galaxies are pure star-forming nuclei, 10% as transition objects, and only 7% of the galaxies in compact groups show the nuclear activity. The AGN fraction of compact group is higher than galaxy clusters, but lower than field environment. Implications of this result will be discussed.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.31.3-32
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• 2021

We quantify the relative role of galaxy environment and bar presence on AGN triggering in face-on spiral galaxies using a volume-limited sample with 0.02 < z < 0.055, Mr < 19.5, and σ > 70 km s-1 selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7. To separate their possible entangled effects, we divide the sample into bar and non-bar samples, and each sample is further divided into three environment cases of isolated galaxies, interacting galaxies with a pair, and cluster galaxies. The isolated case is used as a control sample. For these six cases, we measure AGN fractions at a fixed central star formation rate and central velocity dispersion, σ. We demonstrate that the internal process of the bar-induced gas inflow is more efficient in AGN triggering than the external mechanism of the galaxy interactions in groups and cluster outskirts. The significant effects of bar instability and galaxy environments are found in galaxies with a relatively less massive bulge. We conclude that from the perspective of AGN-galaxy coevolution, a massive black hole is one of the key drivers of spiral galaxy evolution. If it is not met, a bar instability helps the evolution, and in the absence of bars, galaxy interactions/mergers become important. In other words, in the presence of a massive central engine, the role of the two gas inflow mechanisms is reduced or almost disappears. We also find that bars in massive galaxies are very decisive in increasing AGN fractions when the host galaxies are inside clusters.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.65.3-66
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• 2020

We use the IllustrisTNG cosmological hydrodynamical simulation to study the evolution of star formation rate (SFR)-density relation over cosmic time. We construct several samples of galaxies at different redshifts from z=2.0 to z=0.0, which have the same comoving number density. The SFR of galaxies decreases with local density at z=0.0, but its dependence on local density becomes weaker with redshift. At z≳1.0, the SFR of galaxies increases with local density (reversal of the SFR-density relation), and its dependence becomes stronger with redshift. This change of SFR-density relation with redshift still remains even when fixing the stellar masses of galaxies. The dependence of SFR on the distance to a galaxy cluster also shows a change with redshift in a way similar to the case based on local density, but the reversal happens at a higher redshift, z~1.5, in clusters. On the other hand, the molecular gas fraction always decreases with local density regardless of redshift at z=0.0-2.0 even though the dependence becomes weaker when we fix the stellar mass. Our study demonstrates that the observed reversal of the SFR-density relation at z≳1.0 can be successfully reproduced in cosmological simulations. Our results are consistent with the idea that massive, star-forming galaxies are strongly clustered at high redshifts, forming larger structures. These galaxies then consume their gas faster than those in low-density regions through frequent interactions with other galaxies, ending up being quiescent in the local universe.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.175-177
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• 2017

In order to reveal physical conditions of molecular gas in active galaxies (active galaxies mean both starbursts and AGNs in this paper), we carried out systematic observations (R = 19 ~ 120) of CO fundamental band at $4.7{\mu}m$ in absorption with AKARI. We also made follow-up CO absorption observations at higher spectral resolution (R = 5000 ~ 1000) with Subaru. Recently, Herschel made extensive observations of highly-excited CO lines in emission in the far-infrared. The two data sets (absorption and emission) sometimes provide us with apparently inconsistent results. One case is starburst galaxies: Subaru observations showed low temperature of molecular gas toward the starburst NGC 253, while Herschel detected highly excited CO lines in the starburst. This suggests that warm molecular clouds are more deeply embedded than newly formed star clusters. The other case is obscured AGNs; Herschel detected highly excited CO lines in emission in nearby AGNs, while AKARI and Subaru observations showed CO absorption only in some of the obscured AGNs. This could reflect the difference of nature of molecular tori in these AGNs. We propose the combination of the absorption and emission observations as an effective tool to reveal geometry of warm molecular clouds in active galaxies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.29.1-29.1
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• 2017

I present new near-infrared (NIR) photometry of globular cluster (GC) systems associated to a cD galaxy NGC 4874 in the core of the Coma cluster and 16 early-type galaxies in the Fornax and Virgo clusters of galaxies using the Infrared Channel of the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3/IR) on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Combining these high-resolution NIR data with new HST Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) optical photometry for NGC 4874 and existing ACS GC catalogs from the ACS Fornax and Virgo Cluster Surveys, I have examined for the first time the GC systems in a statistically significant optical/NIR sample of galaxies spanning a wide range of luminosities and colors. A primary goal of this study is to explore empirically whether the distributions of purely optical and hybrid optical - NIR color indices for extragalactic GCs have different forms and whether the relations between these color indices are nonlinear, indicating that they behave differently with underlying metallicity. I find that some GC systems of large galaxies in our sample show color bimodalities that differ between the optical and optical - NIR colors, in the sense that they have disparate ratios of "blue" and "red" peak GCs, as well as differing ratios in their color dispersions. Consistent with these results, I find empirically that the dependence of hybrid optical-NIR color on purely optical color is nonlinear, with an inflection at intermediate metallicities. These findings underscore the importance of understanding the nature of galaxy-to-galaxy variations in the GC color distributions and color-color relations, as well as the exact forms of the color-metallicity transformations, in interpreting the observational data on GC color bimodality. Our ACS data for NGC 4874 shows that its GC system exhibits a very strong blue tilt, implying a very steep mass-metallicity scaling, and the centroid of this GC system is offset by $4{\pm}1kpc$ from the luminosity center of NGC 4874, in the direction of NGC 4872. Finally, I discuss the asymmetrical GC distribution around a dwarf elliptical galaxy in Coma that has a very high relative velocity with respect to the cluster mean at small clustercentric radius.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.40.1-40.1
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• 2016

Recent integral-field spectrograph surveys have found that similar-looking early type galaxies have wide range of rotational properties (Emsellem et al. 2007). This finding initiated a new point of view to the galaxies; rotation of galaxy as the first parameter of galaxy classification (Emsellem et al. 2011, Cappellari et al. 2011, for example). Some theoretical studies tried to address the origin of galaxy rotation. Idealized galaxy merger simulations have shown that galaxy-galaxy interactions have significant effects on the rotation of galaxies. Cosmological simulations by Naab et al. 2014 also added some more insights to the rotation of galaxies. However, previous studies either lack cosmological background or have not enough number of samples. Running a set of cosmological hydrodynamic zoom-in simulations using the AMR code RAMSES(Teyssier 2002). we have constructed a sample of thousands of galaxies in 20 clusters. Here we present a kinematic analysis of a large sample of galaxies in the cosmological context. The overall distribution of rotation parameter of simulated galaxies suggests a single peak corresponding to fast rotating galaxies. But when divided by mass, we find a strong mass dependency of galaxy rotation, and massive galaxies are distinctively slow rotating. The cumulated effective of mergers seems to neutralize galaxy rotation as suggested by previous studies (Khochfar et al. 2011, Naab et al. 2014, and Moody et al. 2014). This is consistent with the fact that massive galaxies tend to rotate more slowly after numerous mergers. However, if seen individually, merger can either increase or decrease galaxy rotation depending on mass ratio, orbital parameter, and relative rotation axis of the two galaxies. This explains the existence of some non-slow rotating massive early type galaxies.

• 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.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.46.3-46.3
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• 2017

We investigate the changes of galaxy spin orientation in dense environments using hydrodynamical cosmological zoom-in simulations for 17 galaxy clusters. This study reveals that the spin axes of satellite galaxies become more unstable when the satellites have lower initial $V/{\sigma}$, orbits with smaller pericenter distance, and higher merger rates after infall into the model clusters. The satellite galaxies involved in mergers after infall experience twice larger angular changes of spin axes than those without mergers. We also find that perturbation exerted by environments or neighboring galaxies strongly correlates with the stability of spin orientation and final $V/{\sigma}$. On the other hand, the size or stellar mass density of the satellites are not significantly affected by mergers or perturbation in cluster environments.