• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.76.2-76.2
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• 2017

We present Subaru Near-Infrared (NIR) photometry for globular clusters (GCs) in the giant elliptical galaxy NGC 4649 (M60) belonging to the Virgo cluster. NIR data are obtained in Ks-band with the Subaru/MOIRCS, and matching HST/ACS optical data available in literature are used to explore the origin of GC color bimodality. A clear bimodal color distribution is observed in the optical color (g-z), in which the ratio between blue and red GCs is 4:6. By contrast, the more metallicity-sensitive optical-NIR colors (g-Ks, z-Ks) show a considerably weakened bimodality in their distributions. The color-color relation of the optical and NIR colors for the GC system shows a nonlinear feature, supporting that the optical color bimodality observed in NGC 4649 GC system is caused by nonlinear color-metallicity relations (CMRs).

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.77.2-77.2
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• 2017

We investigate star formation activities of ~400 barred and unbarred faced-on late-type galaxies from the SDSS-IV MaNGA (Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO) IFU survey. We find the star formation activities in gas-poor, barred galaxies are considerably suppressed than gas-rich, barred galaxies, while there is no difference among unbarred galaxies regardless of their HI gas content. The gas-poor and barred galaxies show the steeper difference of gradient in metallicity and age with respect to the stellar mass than gas-rich or unbarred galaxies, in that their centre is more metal-rich and younger. The results suggest that, combined with the gas contents available, the bar structure plays a significant role in quenching star formation in a galaxy by transporting/mixing gas via gas inflow.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.255-259
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• 2015

Recent narrow-band Ca photometry discovered two distinct red giant branch (RGB) populations in some massive globular clusters (GCs) including M22, NGC 1851, and NGC 288. In order to investigate the differences in light/heavy elements abundances between the two subpopulations, we have performed low-resolution spectroscopy for stars on the two RGBs in these GCs. We find a significant difference (more than $4{\sigma}$) in calcium abundance from the spectroscopic HK' index for both M22 and NGC 1851. We also find a more than $8{\sigma}$ difference in CN band strength between the Ca-strong and Ca-weak subpopulations. For NGC 288, however, we detect the presence of a large difference only in the CN strength. The calcium abundances of the two subpopulations in this GC are identical within errors. We also find interesting differences in CN-CH relations among these GCs. While CN and CH indices are correlated in M22, they show an anti-correlation in NGC 288. However, NGC 1851 shows no difference in CH between two groups of stars having different CN strengths. The CN bimodality in these GCs could be explained by pollution from intermediate-mass asymptotic giant branch stars and/or fast-rotating massive stars. For the presence or absence of calcium bimodality and the differences in CN-CH relations, we suggest these would be best explained by how strongly type II supernovae enrichment has contributed to the chemical evolutions of these GCs.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.267-268
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• 2015

One of the long-standing problems in modern astronomy is the curious division of globular clusters (GCs) into two groups, according to the mean period (<$P_{ab}$>) of type ab RR Lyrae variables. In light of the recent discovery of multiple populations in GCs, we suggest a new model explaining the origin of the Sandage period-shift and the difference in mean period of type ab RR Lyrae variables between the two Oosterhoff groups. In our models, the instability strip in the metal-poor group II clusters, such as M15, is populated by second generation stars (G2) with enhanced helium and CNO abundances, while the RR Lyraes in the relatively metal-rich group I clusters like M3 are mostly produced by first generation stars (G1) without these enhancements. This population shift within the instability strip with metallicity can create the observed period-shift between the two groups, since both helium and CNO abundances play a role in increasing the period of RR Lyrae variables. The presence of more metal-rich clusters having Oosterhoff-intermediate characteristics, such as NGC 1851, as well as of most metal-rich clusters having RR Lyraes with the longest periods (group III) can also be reproduced, as more helium-rich third and later generations of stars (G3) penetrate into the instability strip with further increase in metallicity. Therefore, although there are systems where the suggested population shift cannot be a viable explanation, for the most general cases, our models predict that RR Lyraes are produced mostly by G1, G2, and G3, respectively, for the Oosterhoff groups I, II, and III.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.77.3-78
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• 2015

It is known that the galaxy evolution by direct interaction between galaxies is most active in a galaxy group. As a result, the satellite galaxies are closely related to their central galaxy in properties such as morphology, color and star formation rate (so-called 'galactic conformity'). However, it is not clear yet whether such conformity between galaxies is found in a galaxy cluster. Recently, Lee et al. (2014) have found a measurable correlation between the colors of bright galaxies and the mean colors of their faint companions in a cluster WHL J085910.0+294957 at z = 0.3, using the photometrically-selected cluster members. They suggest that such correlation may be the vestige of infallen groups in the cluster as one possibility. In order to confirm the small-scale conformity in galaxy clusters with higher reliability, we study the Virgo cluster using the Extended Virgo Cluster Catalog (EVCC). The cluster members are selected spectroscopically unlike in WHL J085910.0+294957. We examine the galactic conformity in two distinct areas of the Virgo cluster: the inner X-ray emission region and its outer region. We find a marginal conformity in color (> $2{\sigma}$ significance to bootstrap uncertainty) in the outer region, while no meaningful signal of small-scale conformity is detected in the X-ray emission region. We discuss the implication of this result, focusing on cluster mass assembly and cluster environmental effects on galaxy evolution.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.44.2-44.2
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• 2014

We investigate the influence of neighboring galaxies as a component of the local environment. Based on the SDSS data release 7 and the KIAS value-added galaxy catalog, we have constructed a galaxy pair catalog by matching each galaxy with its nearest and its most tidally-influential neighbor. In particular, we examine the star formation rate (SFR) derived from their optical u-r color and $H{\alpha}$ emission as functions of neighbor's distance, tidal force, and morphological type. The results are as follows. (1) The $H{\alpha}$-based SFR of galaxies with close companions is enhanced by up to a factor of three regardless of neighbor's morphology, when compared to isolated counterparts. (2) The mean u-r color of galaxies along with early-type galaxies is redder than that of isolated ones, yet bluer with late-types. (3) The galaxies with late-type companions mostly show higher SFR than those with early-types. The results suggest that the role played by neighboring galaxies are two-fold; (a) the tidal effect on the shorter scale of time and of distance, and (b) the hydrodynamic effect on the longer scale.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.105-113
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• 2010

We study the dynamical evolution of the M87 globular cluster (GC) system using the most advanced and realistic Fokker-Planck (FP) model.By comparing our FP models with both mass function (MF) and radial distribution (RD) of the observed GC system, we find the best-fit initial (at M87's age of 2-3 Gyr) MF and RD for three GC groups: all GCs, blue GCs, and red GCs. We estimate the initial total mass in GCs to be $1.8^{+0.3}_{-0.2}{\times}10^{10}M_{\bigodot}$, which is about 100 times larger than that of the Milky Way GC system. We also find that the fraction of the total mass currently in GCs is 34\%. When blue and red GCs are fitted separately, blue GCs initially have a larger total mass and a shallower radial distribution than red GCs. If one assumes that most of the significant major merger events of M87 have ended by the age of 2-3 Gyr, our finding that blue (metal-poor) GCs initially had a shallower radial distribution supports the major merger scenario for the origin of metallicity bimodality.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.40.1-40.1
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• 2012

In the hierarchical universe, galaxy merger is predicted to be frequent, and thus it is an important element for understanding galaxy evolution. In particular, star formation is greatly enhanced during the merger. The aim of this study is to understand the position and rate change of star formation caused by equal-mass edge-on mergers. We use the GADGET2- N-body/SPH code, and fully consider gas cooling, star formation, and supernova feedback. We show the star formation rate (SFR), and the magnitude and color evolution of the merger remnants for 18 different configurations varying orbit elements and inclinations of host galaxies against orbit planes. Then we construct the mock images of the remnants and investigate on how equal-mass galaxy merger affects the SFR and color/magnitude evolution while considering dust reddening. We conclude that over 90% mass of SF in equal-mass merger is in the central region. SF in tidal feature involves a small fraction of new stars and thus is difficult to detect unless deep imaging is performed. Around 55 ${\pm}$ 5 percent of gas turns into stars until the final coalescence which typically corresponds to 0.8, 1.2, and 2.5 Gyr for direct, parabolic, and elliptical orbit, respectively. This result is roughly consistent with Cox et al. 2000. We plan to implement this result into semi-analytic model of galaxy formation. Caveats and future work on merging conditions are discussed.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.61.4-62
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• 2018

We use smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) models to study the evolution of galactic spin and the distribution of gas and young stars in the inner region of the galaxies through galaxy encounters. Specifically, we perform numerical simulations of interactions of a late- or an early-type galaxy with either a late- or an early-type galaxy with and without a gas halo at the closest approach distances of 25 and 50 kpc. We find that an early-type galaxy encountering a late-type galaxy have a higher galactic spin and more gas and young stars in the central region of the galaxy after the collision. We are analyzing the role of a gas halo on the changes of galactic spin and central mass distribution during various galaxy-galaxy encounters.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.39.2-39.2
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• 2019

Galaxy clusters are the largest gravitationally bound structures in the universe and located in the densest peak of the dark matter. They can constraint cosmologicals model from their dark matter halo distribution and they are good laboratories to study how galaxy evolution varies with their environment. Especially, studies of galaxy clusters at $z{\geq}1$ are important because (i) galaxy evolution at z >1 is still controversial (Elbaz et al. 2007; Faloon et al. 2013) and (ii) some studies show that mass of galaxy clusters at z>1 seems to be higher than expected value from the concordance LCDM cosmological model (Kang & Im 2009; Gonzales et al. 2012). In spite of their significance, there have not been many studies of galaxy clusters at $z{\geq}1$ because of the lack of wide and deep multi-wavelength data. We newly found galaxy cluster candidates at 0.2 < z < 1.4 and a LSS spanning over 100Mpc at z~0.9 in the ELAIS-N1 field which is one of the IMS (Infrared Medium-deep Survey; Im et al. 2019, in preparation) fields. Thanks to K-GMT science program, we performed spectroscopic follow-up observation for a z~1 galaxy cluster candidates with GMOS of Gemini North and for z~0.9 supercluster candidates with Hectospec of MMT in 2018A and confirmed the large scale structures. We present the newly discovered galaxy overdensities from the observation and the analysis result.