• 천문학회보
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• 제37권2호
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• pp.81-81
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• 2012

Since the ultraviolet (UV) flux of an integrated population is a good tracer of recent star formation activities, UV observations provide an important constraint on star formation history (SFH) in galaxies. We present UV color-magnitude relations (CMRs) of early-type dwarf galaxies in the Virgo cluster, based on Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) UV data and the Extended Virgo Cluster Catalog (EVCC, Kim, S. in prep.). The EVCC covers an area 5.4 times larger (750 deg2) than the footprint of the classical Virgo cluster catalog by Binggeli and collaborators. We secure 1304 galaxies as members of the Virgo cluster and 526 galaxies of them are new objects not contained in the VCC. Morphological classification of galaxies in the EVCC is based on the optical image ("Primary Classification") and spectral feature ("Secondary Classification") of the SDSS data. We find that dwarf lenticular galaxies (dS0s) show a surprisingly distinct and tight locus separated from that of ordinary dwarf elliptical galaxies (dEs), which is not clearly seen in previous CMRs. The dS0s in UV CMRs follow a steeper sequence than dEs and show bluer UV-optical color at a given magnitude. Most early type dwarf galaxies with blue UV colors (FUV-r < 6 and NUV-r < 4) are identified as those showing spectroscopic hints of recent or ongoing star formation activities. We explore the observed CMRs with population models of a luminosity-dependent delayed exponential star formation history. The observed CMR of dS0s is well matched with models with relatively long delayed star formation. Our results suggest that dS0s are most likely transitional objects at the stage of subsequent transformation of late-type progenitors to ordinary red dEs in the cluster environment. In any case, UV photometry provides a powerful tool to disentangle the diverse subpopulations of early-type dwarf galaxies and uncover their evolutionary histories.

• 천문학회보
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• 제38권2호
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• pp.36-36
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• 2013

Globular clusters (GCs) are among the oldest stellar objects in the universe and provide valuable constraints on many aspects of galaxy evolution. GC systems typically exhibit bimodal color distributions the phenomenon of which has been a major topic in the area of GC research. GC color bimodality established a paradigm where scenarios to explain its origin require two GC groups with different formation origins. The GC division, asserted mainly by photometric color bimodality so far, has been viewed as the presence of two distinct metallicity subgroups within individual galaxies. In this study, we make use of spectroscopy of GC systems associated with two giant galaxies, M31 (the Andromeda) and M87 (NGC 4486), to investigate the GC bimodality and the underlying metallicity distributions. Recent spectroscopy on the globular cluster (GC) system of M31 with unprecedented precision witnessed a clear bimodality in absorption-line index distributions of old GCs. Given that spectroscopy is a more detailed probe into stellar population than photometry; the discovery of index bimodality may point to the very existence of dual GC populations. However, here we show that the observed spectroscopic dichotomy of M31 GCs emerges due to the nonlinear nature of metallicity-to-index conversion and thus one does not necessarily have to invoke two separate GC subsystems. We present spectra of 130 old globular clusters (GCs) associated with the Virgo giant elliptical galaxy M87, obtained using the Multi-Object Spectrography (MOS) mode of Faint Object Camera and Spectrograph (FOCAS) on the Subaru telescope. M87 GCs with reliable metallicity measurements exhibit significant inflection along the color-metallicity relations, through which observed color bimodality is reproduced from a broad, unimodal metallicity distribution. Our findings lend further support to this new interpretation of the GC color bimodality, which could change much of the current thought on the formation of GC systems and their host galaxies.

• 천문학논총
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.517-519
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• 2015

A large-scale neutral hydrogen ($H\small{I}$) ring serendipitously found in the Leo I galaxy group is 200 kpc in diameter with $M_{H\small{I}}{\sim}1.67{\times}10^9M_{\odot}$, unique in size in the Local Universe. It is still under debate where this $H\small{I}$ ring originated - whether it has formed out of the gas remaining after the formation of a galaxy group (primordial origin) or been stripped during galaxy-galaxy interactions (tidal origin). We are investigating the optical and $H\small{I}$ gas properties of the dwarf galaxies located within the gas ring in order to probe its formation mechanism. In this work, we present the photometric properties of the dwarfs inside the ring using the CFHT MegaCam $u^{\ast}$, $g^{\prime}$, $r^{\prime}$ and $i^{\prime}$-band data. We discuss the origin of the gas ring based on the stellar age and metal abundance of dwarf galaxies contained within it.

• 천문학논총
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.183-187
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• 2015

We use ALLWISE data release W1- and W2-band epoch photometry collected by the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to determine slopes of the period-luminosity relations for RR Lyrae stars in 15 globular clusters in the corresponding bands. We further combine these results with V- and K-band photometry of Galactic field RR Lyrae stars to determine the metallicity slopes of the log $P_F-[Fe/H]-M_K$, log $P_F-[Fe/H]-M_{W1}$, and log $P_F-[Fe/H]-M_{W2}$ period-metallicity-luminosity relations. We infer the zero points of these relations and determine the kinematical parameters of thick-disk and halo RR Lyraes via statistical parallax, and estimate the RR Lyrae-based distances to 18 Local-Group galaxies including the center of the Milky Way.

• 천문학회보
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• 제37권2호
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• pp.84.2-84.2
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• 2012

We present wide-field multiband photometry of globular cluster (GC) systems toward the central region of the Fornax cluster of galaxies, including NGC 1399, NGC 1404, and NGC 1387. Observation was carried out through four optical passbands (U, B, V, and I) with the Mosaic II CCD imager mounted on the 4-m Blanco telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). This marks one of the widest U-band photometric studies on GC systems. GC candidates are selected among point sources based on their two color diagrams together with a magnitude cut. We investigate the radial variation of color distributions for the GC systems, focusing on the fundamental parameters that characterize bimodal distributions; the number ratio between blue and red GCs, the mean colors of the groups, and their color dispersions. We discuss the implication of our result regarding the origin of GC color bimodality.

• 천문학회보
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• 제38권2호
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• pp.73.2-73.2
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• 2013

In the current ${\Lambda}CDM$ hierarchical merging paradigm, a galaxy like the Milky Way formed by numerous mergers of ancient subsystems. Most of the relics of these building blocks, however, are yet to be discovered or identified. Recent progress in the Milky Way globular cluster research is throwing new light on this perspective. The discoveries of multiple stellar populations having different heavy element abundances in some massive globular clusters are suggesting that they are most likely the remaining cores or relics of disrupted dwarf galaxies. In this talk, we will report our progress in the (1) narrow-band photometry, (2) low-resolution spectroscopy, and (3) population modeling for this growing group of peculiar globular clusters.

• 천문학회보
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• 제42권2호
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• pp.86.2-86.2
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• 2017

Blue stragglers (BSs) are the objects that are brighter and bluer than the stars at main-sequence turn-off point. In this study, we present the Ca-by and VI photometry for Galactic dwarf spheroidal galaxies using Subaru/Suprime-Cam and investigate the spatial distribution characteristics of BS stars using the hk index as a photometric metallicity indicator. We compare the cumulative radial distribution of the BS stars with those of two groups of red-giant-branch (RGB) stars divided by the hk-index strength, and find that the spatial distribution of all BS stars is closer to that of hk-weak (i.e. metal-poor) RGB stars. We also find that the hk-strong BS stars are more centrally concentrated than the hk-weak ones. We will discuss the use of hk-index as a metallicity indicator for the hot BS stars and suggest possible explanations for the results in terms of the origin of BS stars in the dwarf gal.

• 천문학논총
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.349-353
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• 2015

We use multi-wavelength observations of galaxy groups to probe the formation models for galaxy formation in cosmological simulations, statistically. The observations include Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observations, optical photometry and radio observations at 1.4 GHz and 610 MHz. Using a large sample of galaxy groups observed by the XMM-Newton X-ray telescope as part of the XMM-Large Scale Survey, we carried out a statistical study of the redshift evolution of the luminosity gap for a well defined mass-selected group sample and show the relative success of some of the semi-analytic models in reproducing the observed properties of galaxy groups up to redshift z ~ 1.2. The observed trend argues in favour of a stronger evolution of the feedback from active galactic nuclei at z < 1 compared to the models. The slope of the relation between the magnitude of the brightest cluster galaxy and the value of the luminosity gap does not evolve with redshift and is well reproduced by the models. We find that the radio power of giant elliptic galaxies residing in galaxy groups with a large luminosity gap are lower compared to giant ellipticals of the same stellar masses but in typical galaxy groups.

• 천문학논총
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.147-148
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• 2012

We present a photometric catalog of infrared (IR) sources based on the North Ecliptic Pole Wide field (NEP-Wide) survey of AKARI, which covered a 5.4 $deg^2$ circular area centered on NEP. The catalog contains about 115,000 sources detected at the 9 IRC filter bands, comprehensively covering a wavelength range from 2 to $24{\mu}m$. This is a band-merged catalog including all of the photometry results from the supplementary optical data as well as the IRC bands. To validate a source at a given IRC band, we searched for counterparts in the other bands. The band-merging was done based on this cross-matching of the sources among the filter bands. The NIR sources without any counterpart in any other bands are finally excluded to avoid false objects.

• 천문학회보
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• 제38권2호
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• pp.35.2-35.2
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• 2013

I will present a new approach to constrain galaxy physical parameters from the combined interpretation of stellar and nebular emission in wide ranges of observations. This approach relies on a comprehensive library of synthetic spectra, assembled using state-of-the-art models of star formation and chemical enrichment histories, stellar population synthesis, nebular emission and attenuation by dust. We focus on the constraints set by 5-band photometry and low- and medium-resolution spectroscopy at optical rest wavelengths on a few physical parameters characterizing the stars and interstellar medium. Since these parameters cannot be known a priori for any galaxy sample, we assess the accuracy to which they can be retrieved by simulating 'pseudo-observations' using models with known parameters. We find that the combined analysis of stellar and nebular emission in low-resolution (50A FWHM) galaxy spectra provides valuable constraints on all physical parameters. The approach can be extended to the analysis of any type of observation and during this talk i will present some applications to observed galaxies up to redshift 1.5.