• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.171-177
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• 2004

X-ray plasma ejections often occurred around the impulsive phases of solar flares and have been well observed by the SXT aboard Yohkoh. Though the X-ray plasma ejections show various morphological shapes, there has been no attempt at classifying the morphological groups for a large sample of the X-ray plasma ejections. In this study, we have classified 137 X-ray plasma ejections according to their shape for the first time. Our classification criteria are as follows: (1) a loop type shows ejecting plasma with the shape of loops, (2) a spray type has a continuous stream of plasma without showing any typical shape, (3) a jet type shows collimated motions of plasma, (4) a confined ejection shows limited motions of plasma near a flaring site. As a result, we classified the flare-associated X-ray plasma ejections into five groups as follows: loop-type (60 events), spray-type (40 events), jet-type (11 events), confined ejection (18 events), and others (8 events). As an illustration, we presented time sequence images of several typical events to discuss their morphological characteristics, speed, CME association, and magnetic field configuration. We found that the jet-type events tend to have higher speeds and better association with CMEs than those of the loop-type events. It is also found that the CME association (11/11) of the jet-type events is much higher than that (5/18) of the confined ejections. These facts imply that the physical characteristics of the X-ray plasma ejections are closely associated with magnetic field configurations near the reconnection regions.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.52.1-52.1
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• 2021

We present the results of multi-epoch, multi-frequency monitoring of a blazar 4C +29.45, which was regularly monitored as part of the Interferometric Monitoring of GAmma-ray Bright AGNs program - a key science program of the Korean Very long baseline interferometry Network (KVN). Observations were conducted simultaneously at 22, 43, 86 and 129 GHz during the 4 years from December 2012 to December 2016. We also used additional data from the 15 GHz Owens Valley Radio Observatory (OVRO) monitoring program. From the 15 GHz light curve, we estimated the variability time scales of the source during several radio flux enhancements. We found that the source experiencesd 6 radio flux enhancements with variability time scales of 9-187 days during the observing period, yielding corresponding variability Doppler factors of 9-27. From the multi-frequency simultaneous KVN observations, we were able to obtain accurate radio spectra of the source and hence to more precisely measure the turnover frequencies 𝜈_r of synchrotron self-absorbed (SSA) emission with a mean value of ${\bar{\nu}_r}=28.9GHz$. Using jet geometry assumptions, we estimated the size of the emitting region at the turnover frequency. Taking into account these results, we found that the equipartition magnetic field strength is up to two orders of magnitudes higher than the SSA magnetic field strength (0.6-99 mG). This is consistent with the source being particle dominated.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.125-128
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• 2005

In this paper, we argue that the gigahertz peaked spectrum (GPS) quasars are special blazars, blazars in dense and dusty gas enviornment. The ROSAT detection rate of GPS quasars is similar to that of flat spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs), suggesting that the relativistic jets in GPS quasars are oriented at small angle to the line of sight. Due to strong inverse Compton scattering off infrared photons from dense and dusty nuclear interstellar media in GPS quasars, most of them may have significant soft gamma-ray and X-ray emission, which is consistent with ASCA X-ray observations. Because Compton cooling in GPS quasars is stronger than that in FSRQs, synchrotron emission in GPS quasars may less dominate over thermal emission of the accretion disk and hot dust, hence most GPS quasars show low optical polarization and small variability, consistent with observations. We suggest that it is the significant radio emission of electron/positron pairs produced by the interaction of gamma-rays with the dense gas and dust grains in GPS quasars that makes GPS quasars show steep radio spectra, low radio polarization, and relatively faint VLBI/VLBA cores. Whether GPS quasars are special blazars can be tested by gamma-ray observations with GLAST in the near future, with the detection rate of GPS quasars being similar to that of FSRQs.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.597-600
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• 2004

A substantial number of processes have been suggested as possible contributors to the extragalactic $\gamma$-ray background (EGRB). Yet another contribution to this background will be emission produced in hadronic interactions of cosmic-ray protons with the cluster thermal gas; this class of cosmic rays (CRs) has been shown to be responsible for the EUV emission in the Coma Cluster of galaxies. In this paper we assume the CRs in the Coma Cluster is prototypic of all clusters and derive the contribution to the EGRB from all clusters over time. We examine two different possibilities for the scaling of the CR flux with cluster size: the number density of the CRs scale with the number density of the thermal plasma, and alternatively, the energy density of the CRs scale with the energy density of the plasma. We find that in all scenarios the EGRB produced by this process is sufficiently low that it will not be observable in comparison with other mechanisms that are likely to produce an EGRB.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.36.2-36.2
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• 2010

CQUEAN (Camera fo QUasars in EArly uNiverse) is a newly developed camera by CEOU for the 2.1m telescope at the McDonald Observatory, Texas, USA. We report the early science results from the commissioning run of CQUEAN which include the observations of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows and quasars at z ~ 5.5. Although the data were originally taken to test the instrument performance, the results are already very encouraging. We uncovered GRB afterglows at z = 0.8 - 1.4, with our data being used for the international collaboration research to understand the nature of GRBs. The unique filter sets we employed are providing the data which are effective for selecting quasars at z ~ 5.5. The special aspects of CQUEAN - high sensitivity at 0.8-1.1 ${\mu}m$ and fast readouts - will allow us to produce many interesting through surveys of high redshift quasars and fast follow-up of transient objects such as GRBs and exoplanets in future.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.679-682
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• 2015

The Hiroshima Astrophysical Science Center (HASC) was founded in 2004 at Hiroshima University, Japan. The main mission of this institute is the observational study of various transient objects including gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, novae, cataclysmic variables, and active galactic nuclei by means of multi-wavelength observations. HASC consists of three divisions; the optical-infrared astronomy division, high-energy astronomy division, and theoretical astronomy division. HASC is operating the 1.5m optical-infrared telescope Kanata, which is dedicated to follow-up and monitoring observations of transient objects. The high-energy division is the key operation center for the Fermi gamma-ray space telescope. HASC and the high-energy astronomy group in the department of physical science at Hiroshima University are closely collaborating with each other to promote multi-wavelength time-domain astronomy. We report the recent activities of HASC and some science topics pursued by this multi-wavelength collaboration.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.55.1-55.1
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• 2018

Studies on rotation-powered pulsars with strong surface magnetic field may help us clarify the unclear link between magnetars and canonical radio pulsars because the magnetar-like emission is expected to be observed. PSR J1119-6127 associated with SNR G292.2-0.5 has a high magnetic field of $4.1{\times}1013$ gauss, and a young characteristic age of ~1700 years can be served as the good candidate to compare with magnetars and rotation-powered pulsars. The glitch accompanied by the radiative changes detected in 2007 is the first case we observed for a rotationally powered radio pulsar. This pulsar experienced magnetar-like outbursts in mid. 2016, similar to the 2006 transition occurred on the other radio-quiet rotation-powered pulsar with strong surface magnetic field, PSR J1846-0258. In this talk, I'll report the investigation with X-ray and gamma-ray data of this magnetar-like pulsar. A sudden decrease in the gamma-ray emission at the GeV band was detected immediately after the X-ray outburst. Accompanying with the disappearance of the radio pulsation, the gamma-ray pulsation cannot be resolved as well after the outburst. We tried to derive the timing behavior and some intriguing features of this pulsar in this work corresponding to the outburst using the Swift data, NuSTAR and XMM observations.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.257-265
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• 2015

We present results of long-term multi-wavelength polarization observations of the powerful blazar 3C 279 after its γ-ray flare on 2013 December 20. We followed up this flare with single-dish polarization observations using two 21-m telescopes of the Korean VLBI Network. Observations carried out weekly from 2013 December 25 to 2015 January 11, at 22 GHz, 43 GHz, 86 GHz simultaneously, as part of the Monitoring Of GAmma-ray Bright AGN (MOGABA) program. We measured 3C 279 total flux densities of 22–34 Jy at 22 GHz, 15–28 Jy (43 GHz), and 10–21 Jy (86 GHz), showing mild variability of ≤ 50 % over the period of our observations. The spectral index between 22 GHz and 86 GHz ranged from −0.13 to −0.36. Linear polarization angles were 27°–38°, 30°–42°, and 33°–50° at 22 GHz, 43 GHz, and 86 GHz, respectively. The degree of linear polarization was in the range of 6–12 %, and slightly decreased with time at all frequencies. We investigated Faraday rotation and depolarization of the polarized emission at 22–86 GHz, and found Faraday rotation measures (RM) of −300 to −1200 rad m⁻² between 22 GHz and 43 GHz, and −800 to −5100 rad m⁻² between 43 GHz and 86 GHz. The RM values follow a power law with a mean power law index a of 2.2, implying that the polarized emission at these frequencies travels through a Faraday screen in or near the jet. We conclude that the regions emitting polarized radio emission may be different from the region responsible for the 2013 December γ-ray flare and are maintained by the dominant magnetic field perpendicular to the direction of the radio jet at milliarcsecond scales.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.377-384
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• 2005

Since gamma-ray bursts(GRBs) have been first known to science societites in 1973, many scientists are involved in their studies. Observations of GRB afterglows provide us with much information on the environment in which the observed GRBs are born. Study of GRB afterglows deals with longer timescale emissions in lower energy bands (e.g., months or even up to years) than prompt emissions in gamma-rays. Not all the bursts accompany afterglows in whole ranges of waveleogths. It has been suggested as a reason for that, for instance, that radio and/or X-ray afterglows are not recorded mainly due to lower sensitivity of detectors, and optical afterglows due to extinctions in intergalactic media or self-extinctions within a host galaxy itself. Based on the idea that these facts may also provide information on the GRE environment, we analyze statistical properties of GRB afterglows. We first select samples of the redshift-known GRBs according to the wavelength of afterglow they accompanied. We then compare their distributious as a function of redshift, using statistical methods. As a results, we find that the distribution of the GRBs with X-ray afterglows is consistent with that of the GRBs with optical afterglows. We, therefore, conclude that the lower detection rate of optical afterglows is not due to extinctions in intergalactic media.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.109-117
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• 2016

We explain the results of Yu et al. (2015b) of the novel sharpness angle measurement to a large number of spectra obtained from the Fermi gamma-ray burst monitor. The sharpness angle is compared to the values obtained from various representative emission models: blackbody, single-electron synchrotron, synchrotron emission from a Maxwellian or power-law electron distribution. It is found that more than 91% of the high temporally and spectrally resolved spectra are inconsistent with any kind of optically thin synchrotron emission model alone. It is also found that the limiting case, a single temperature Maxwellian synchrotron function, can only contribute up to 58⁺²³₋₁₈% of the peak flux. These results show that even the sharpest but non-realistic case, the single-electron synchrotron function, cannot explain a large fraction of the observed spectra. Since any combination of physically possible synchrotron spectra added together will always further broaden the spectrum, emission mechanisms other than optically thin synchrotron radiation are likely required in a full explanation of the spectral peaks or breaks of the GRB prompt emission phase.