• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2010

JHK near-infrared photometry of star clusters in the dwarf irregular/dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 1569 are presented. After adopting several criteria to exclude other sources (foreground stars, background galaxies, etc.), 154 candidates of star clusters are identified in the near-infrared images of NGC 1569, which include very young star clusters. Especially, from analysis based on theoretical background, we found ten very young star clusters near the center of NGC 1569. The total reddening values toward these clusters are estimated to be $A_V$=1-9 mag from comparison with the theoretical estimates given by the Leitherer et al. (1999)'s star cluster model.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.89-94
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• 2006

We present JHK-band near-infrared photometry of the star clusters in the dwarf irregular galaxy IC 5152. After excluding possible foreground stars, a number of candidate star clusters are identified in the near-infrared images of IC 5152, which include young populations. Especially, five young star clusters are identified in the(J-H, H-K) two color diagram and the total extinction values toward these clusters are estimated to be $A_v=2-6$ from the comparison with the theoretical values given by the Leitherer et al.(1999)'s theoretical star cluster model.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.43.2-43.2
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• 2021

Ram-pressure stripping (RPS) is known as the main driver of quenching the star formation (SF) activity in cluster galaxies. However, galaxies undergoing RPS in galaxy clusters often show blue star-forming knots in their disturbed disks and tails. The existence of these "jellyfish galaxies" implies that RPS can temporarily boost the SF activity of cluster galaxies. Thus, jellyfish galaxies are very unique and interesting targets to study the influence of RPS on their SF activity, in particular with integral field spectroscopy (IFS). While there have been many IFS studies of jellyfish galaxies in low-mass clusters (e.g., the GASP survey), IFS studies of those in massive clusters have been lacking. We present an IFS study of five jellyfish galaxies in massive clusters at intermediate redshifts using the Gemini GMOS/IFU. Their star formation rates (SFRs) are estimated to be up to 15 Mo/yr in the tails and 50 Mo/yr in the disks. These SFRs are by a factor of 10 higher than those of star-forming galaxies on the main sequence in the M*-SFR relation at similar redshifts. Our results suggest that the SF activity of jellyfish galaxies tends to be more enhanced in massive clusters than in low-mass clusters. This implies that strong RPS in massive clusters can trigger strong starbursts.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.32.3-33
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• 2020

Jellyfish galaxies show spectacular features such as star-forming knots and tails due to strong ram-pressure stripping in galaxy clusters. Thus, jellyfish galaxies are very useful targets to investigate the effects of ram-pressure stripping on the star formation activity in galaxies. Integral field spectroscopy (IFS) studies are the best way to study star formation in jellyfish galaxies, but they have been limited to those in low-mass galaxy clusters until now. In this study, we present a Gemini GMOS/IFU study of three jellyfish galaxies in very massive clusters (M_200 > 10^15 Mo). The host clusters (Abell 2744, MACSJ0916.1-0023, and MACSJ1752.0+4440) are X-ray luminous and dynamically unstable, suggesting that ram-pressure stripping in these clusters is much stronger than in low-mass clusters. We present preliminary results of star formation rates, kinematics, dynamical states, and ionization mechanisms of our sample galaxies and discuss how ram-pressure stripping relates with the star formation activity of jellyfish galaxies in massive clusters.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.55.1-55.1
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• 2021

Ram-pressure stripping (RPS) is known as a typical mechanism of quenching star formation (SF) of galaxies orbiting in clusters, but it can also boost the SF activity within a short period of time. Jellyfish galaxies, with eye-catching blue tails and knots, are such starburst galaxies undergoing strong RPS in galaxy clusters. Thus, they are very useful targets to understand their SF activity in relation to RPS. We study the SF activity of three jellyfish galaxies in massive clusters at z=0.3-0.4 (MACSJ1752-JFG2, MACSJ0916-JFG1, and A2744-F0083) with Gemini GMOS/IFU and compare our results to those of jellyfish galaxies in low-mass clusters. We obtain total star formation rates (SFRs) of up to 60 Mo/yr and SFRs in the tails of up to 15 Mo/yr, which are much higher than those of jellyfish galaxies in low-mass clusters with the median SFRs of 1.1 Mo/yr in total and 0.03 Mo/yr in tails. In addition, these SFRs are also significantly higher than the SF main sequence of galaxies at the redshifts of the three jellyfish galaxies. This implies that their SF activity is much more enhanced compared to jellyfish galaxies in low-mass clusters due to extreme RPS in massive clusters.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.31.1-31.1
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• 2020

A merger or interaction between galaxy clusters is one of the most violent events in the universe. Thus, an interacting cluster is an optimum laboratory to understand how galaxy properties are influenced by a drastic change of the large-scale environment. Here, we present the observational evidence that bars in disk galaxies can form by cluster-cluster interaction and the bar formation is associated with star-formation enhancement. We investigated 105 galaxy clusters at 0.015

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.39.2-39.2
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• 2014

We present a photometric study of star clusters in the nuclear starburst region of NGC 253 using gVI, YJ, and H band images in the Hubble Space Telescope archive. We find about one thousand star clusters in about 200"x200" field by visual inspection with I<21. We also find about ten thousand star clusters in the same field by automated classification method with magnitude range of 21< I $$\leq_-$$ 24. Ages and masses of star clusters are estimated using spectral energy distribution fitting method. Age distribution of star cluster shows two distinguished young populations with peak ages at 3.5 Myr and 18 Myr. Old populations (>100 Myr) are exist, but their number is small. About thirty young massive star clusters (<10 Myr, ) are found in nuclear region of NGC 253 which are regarded as a result of the recent starburst. Mass function of young star clusters in NGC 253 is somewhat different with those of star clusters in other galaxies. This result suggests that initial cluster mass functions (ICMFs) for star clusters are not universial. Especially ICMF in starburst galaxies may be distinguishable compared with those in normal spiral galaxies. We discuss the implications of these results.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.539-541
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• 2015

We present a new tool for studying the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) and color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of galaxies and star clusters, BINARY STAR TO FIT (BS2fit). A key feature of this tool is that it takes the effects of binaries, stellar rotation and star formation history into account. It can be used to determine many parameters, including distance, extinction, binary fraction, rotational star fraction, and star formation history. Because more factors are included than in previous tools, BS2fit can potentially give new insight into the properties of galaxies and clusters. One can contact the authors for cooperation and helps via.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.17-35
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• 2021

We study galaxies undergoing ram pressure stripping in the Virgo cluster to examine whether we can identify any discernible trend in their star formation activity. We first use 48 galaxies undergoing different stages of stripping based on H i morphology, H i deficiency, and relative extent to the stellar disk, from the VIVA survey. We then employ a new scheme for galaxy classification which combines H i mass fractions and locations in projected phase space, resulting in a new sample of 365 galaxies. We utilize a variety of star formation tracers, which include g - r, WISE [3.4]-[12] colors, and starburstiness that are defined by stellar mass and star formation rates to compare the star formation activity of galaxies at different stripping stages. We find no clear evidence for enhancement in the integrated star formation activity of galaxies undergoing early to active stripping. We are instead able to capture the overall quenching of star formation activity with increasing degree of ram pressure stripping, in agreement with previous studies. Our results suggest that if there is any ram pressure stripping induced enhancement, it is at best locally modest, and galaxies undergoing enhancement make up a small fraction of the total sample. Our results also indicate that it is possible to trace galaxies at different stages of stripping with the combination of H i gas content and location in projected phase space, which can be extended to other galaxy clusters that lack high-resolution H i imaging.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.56.2-56.2
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• 2012

We present a study of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) contribution to the total Ks band luminosity of star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) as a function of age. AGB stars, a representative intermediate-age population, are a strong source of NIR to MIR emission so that they are a critical component for understanding the near-to-mid infrared observation of galaxies. Current calibration of IR emission in evolutionary population synthesis (EPS) models for galaxies is mainly based on a small number of LMC star clusters. However, each LMC star cluster with intermediate age contains only a few AGB stars so that it suffers from a stochastic effect. Therefore a large number of them are needed for solid calibration of the EPS models. We study physical properties of a large number of LMC star clusters to estimate the Ks band luminosity fraction of AGB stars in star clusters as a function of age. We discuss the stochastic effect in calibrating models, and the importance of this calibration for studying the evolution of not only nearby galaxies but also of high-z galaxies.