• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.48.3-48.3
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• 2017

In our recent investigation of the Oosterhoff dichotomy among globular clusters (GCs), we have shown that the RR Lyrae variables in the Oosterhoff groups I, II, and III are produced mostly by first, second, and third generation stars (G1, G2, and G3), respectively. Unlike GCs, RR Lyrae stars in the Local Group dwarf galaxies show Oosterhoff-intermediate characteristics. The origin of this, however, is yet to be understood. In this poster, we will present our progress in understanding the origin of this phenomenon.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.77.3-77.3
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• 2016

In our previous study, we showed that the peculiar globular cluster M22 contains two distinct stellar populations with different physical properties, having different chemical compositions, spatial distributions and kinematics. We proposed that M22 is most likely formed via a merger of two GCs with heterogeneous metallicities in a dwarf galaxy environment and accreted later to our Galaxy. In their recent study, Mucciarelli et al. claimed that M22 is a normal mono-metallic globular cluster without any perceptible metallicity spread among the two groups of stars, which challenges our results and those of others. We devise new strategies for the local thermodynamic equilibrium abundance analysis of red giant branch stars in globuar clusters and show there exists a spread in the iron abundance distribution in M22.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.507-509
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• 2015

This work aims to study the evolution of galaxies, located in the dense environment of the NGC 4095 compact group, which have recession velocities 6,000 < v ($km\;s^{-1}$) < 8,000. Imaging observations for BV $R_c$ broad-band, and [$S\small{II}$] and red-continuum narrow-band were carried out with the 2.4 m Thai National Telescope (TNT) at Doi Inthanon, Chiang Mai, Thailand. The sample contains 13 galaxies, consisting of 8 spirals, 4 ellipticals and 1 irregular morphological type. Late type galaxies tend to be bluer than early type galaxies. The results show that most of the late type galaxies have ongoing star formation activity, which could be triggered by galaxy-galaxy or tidal interactions, and that young massive stars in these galaxies cause their colors to be bluer than the early type galaxies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.75.2-75.2
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• 2019

This poster introduces the ongoing "Narrow-band Ca Photometry for Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies" project and presents the latest results. The project aims to explain the formation and evolution of dwarf spheroidal galaxies by examining the structural properties of stellar populations as a function of metallicity. To overcome the lack of stars with known spectroscopic metallicities for dwarf spheroidal galaxies, we apply the hk index as a photometric metallicity indicator to three galaxies-Draco, Sextans, and Canes Venatici I. For all three galaxies, we found that metal-poor and metal-rich groups of red-giant-branch stars have distinct spatial distributions, in which metal-rich stars are centrally concentrated while metal-poor stars are relatively dispersed. In Sextans, we found an off-centered peak of metal-poor stars which is presumed to be a disrupting star cluster in this galaxy. We will discuss the implications of our results for the dwarf galaxy formation and possible directions on future work of this project.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.74.1-74.1
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• 2019

We present the distance measurements of two spiral galaxies NGC 4517, NGC 4592, and neighboring dwarf galaxies found in Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP) wide field survey data. Distances to NGC 4517 and NGC 4592 are measured by the Tip of the Red Giant Branch method from archival Hubble Space Telescope data; 9.00^+0.094_-0.260 Mpc for NGC 4517 and 8.90^+0.256_-0.060 Mpc for NGC 4592. The spatial distance between NGC 4517 and NGC 4592 is 300 kpc, which is close enough for them to be considered as a group (NGC 4517 group). Using resolved stellar photometry and Surface Brightness Fluctuation (SBF) method with HSC-SSP data, we estimate the distances to three other dwarf galaxies and confirm that they are members of the group. Velocities of three of the galaxies in the NGC 4517 group show that this group is one of the galaxy groups in the near side of the Virgo Cluster infall region.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.671-673
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• 2015

Before analyzing the images taken with a Mosaic CCD imager, the images have to reach a state which can be used for further scientific analysis. The transformation of raw images into calibrated images is called data reduction. Transforming HEavely Light into Images (THELI) is a nearly fully automated reduction pipeline software (Erben et al., 2005). This pipeline works on raw images to remove instrumental signatures, mask unwanted signals, and perform photometric and astrometric calibration. Finally THELI constructs a deep co-added mosaic image and a weight map. In this poster, THELI data reduction procedures will be reviewed and the reduction process for raw images of seven X-ray bright groups, extracted from GEMS groups (Osmond & Ponman, 2004) obtained by the Wide Field Imager (WFI) mounted on MPG/ESO telescope at La Silla in March 2006 will be discussed.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.41.2-41.2
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• 2015

Steward Observatory has a rich and diverse program of investigations, with significant groups working on star and planet formation and astrobiology, galaxy and quasar formation and evolution, technology for adaptive optics and interferometry, computational astrophysics, and effectiveness of educational practice. To support this work, Steward operates and offers a range of observational and other facilities, including the Large Binocular Telescope, the MMT, the Magellan Telescopes, the Arizona Radio Observatory, and a suite of 1- and 2-m class telescopes. A special opportunity for IR astronomy exists with Arizona now running UKIRT. Steward Observatory astronomers would welcome the opportunity to form genuine scientific collaborations that are mutually beneficial for high-impact projects and improving the observing facilities.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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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.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.29 no.spc1
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• pp.63-64
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• 1996

The nature of distant faint blue field galaxies remains a mystery, despite the fact that much attention has been devoted to this subject in the last decade. Galaxy counts, particularly those in the optical and near ultraviolet bandpasses, have been demonstrated to be well in excess of those expected in the 'no-evolution' scenario. This has usually been taken to imply that galaxies were brighter in the past, presumably due to a higher rate of star formation. More recently, redshift surveys of galaxies as faint as B$\~$24 have shown that the mean redshift of faint blue galaxies is lower than that predicted by standard evolutionary models (de-signed to fit the galaxy counts). The galaxy number count data and redshift data suggest that evolutionary effects are most prominent at the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function. While these data constrain the form of evolution of the overall luminosity function, they do not constrain evolution in individual galaxies. We are carrying out a series of observations as part of a long-term program aimed at a better understanding of the nature and amount of luminosity evolution in individual galaxies. Our study uses the luminosity-linewidth relation (Tully-Fisher relation) for disk galaxies as a tool to study luminosity evolution. Several studies of a related nature are being carried out by other groups. A specific experiment to test a 'no-evolution' hypothesis is presented here. We have used the AUTOFIB multifibre spectro-graph on the 4-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT) and the Rutgers Fabry-Perot imager on the Cerro Tolalo lnteramerican Observatory (CTIO) 4-metre tele-scope to measure the internal kinematics of a representative sample of faint blue field galaxies in the red-shift range z = 0.15-0.4. The emission line profiles of [OII] and [OIII] in a typical sample galaxy are significantly broader than the instrumental resolution (100-120 km $s^{-l}$), and it is possible to make a reliable de-termination of the linewidth. Detailed and realistic simulations based on the properties of nearby, low-luminosity spirals are used to convert the measured linewidth into an estimate of the characteristic rotation speed, making statistical corrections for the effects of inclination, non-uniform distribution of ionized gas, rotation curve shape, finite fibre aperture, etc.. The (corrected) mean characteristic rotation speed for our distant galaxy sample is compared to the mean rotation speed of local galaxies of comparable blue luminosity and colour. The typical galaxy in our distant sample has a B-band luminosity of about 0.25 L$\ast$ and a colour that corresponds to the Sb-Sd/Im range of Hub-ble types. Details of the AUTOFIB fibre spectroscopic study are described by Rix et al. (1996). Follow-up deep near infrared imaging with the 10-metre Keck tele-scope+ NIRC combination and high angular resolution imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope's WFPC2 are being used to determine the structural and orientation parameters of galaxies on an individual basis. This information is being combined with the spatially resolved CTIO Fabry-Perot data to study the internal kinematics of distant galaxies (Ing et al. 1996). The two main questions addressed by these (preliminary studies) are: 1. Do galaxies of a given luminosity and colour have the same characteristic rotation speed in the distant and local Universe? The distant galaxies in our AUTOFIB sample have a mean characteristic rotation speed of $\~$70 km $s^{-l}$ after correction for measurement bias (Fig. 1); this is inconsistent with the characteristic rotation speed of local galaxies of comparable photometric proper-ties (105 km $s^{-l}$) at the > $99\%$ significance level (Fig. 2). A straightforward explanation for this discrepancy is that faint blue galaxies were about 1-1.5 mag brighter (in the B band) at z $\~$ 0.25 than their present-day counterparts. 2. What is the nature of the internal kinematics of faint field galaxies? The linewidths of these faint galaxies appear to be dominated by the global disk rotation. The larger galaxies in our sample are about 2"-.5" in diameter so one can get direct insight into the nature of their internal velocity field from the $\~$ I" seeing CTIO Fabry-Perot data. A montage of Fabry-Perot data is shown in Fig. 3. The linewidths are too large (by. $5\sigma$) to be caused by turbulence in giant HII regions.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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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.