• 천문학회보
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• 제44권1호
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• pp.73.3-73.3
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• 2019

A Korean VLBI Network $1^{st}$ generation key science program, the Interferometric Monitoring of Gamma-ray Bright AGNs (iMOGABA) program has revealed various natures of gamma-ray flares in active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Here in this presentation, we would like to introduce a new candidate of KVN $2^{nd}$ generation key science program, so called, the AiMOGABA (Astrometric iMOGABA), aiming at studying a wondering radio core effect of relativistic jets from AGNs with high resolution VLBI astrometric monitoring of high-energy bursting AGNs with KVN as well as a Australian millimeter radio telescope MOPRA. The introduction will include the current scientific highlights of the iMOGABA, and the overview of the AiMOGABA.

• 천문학회보
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• 제42권2호
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• pp.65.5-66
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• 2017

In the history of astronomy, observed data were interpreted very frequently based upon data measured at laboratories. For example, all the spectroscopic observations were understood via spectroscopic measurements on nuclei, atoms, and molecules. Recently, computational astrophysics plays a role of bridging experimental data to observations, in particular via numerical modeling of complex astronomical phenomena. This presentation focuses on computational nuclear astrophysics that connects experimental data on nuclei to high-energy observation data obtained by X-ray and gamma-ray telescopes. As an example case, X-ray burst will be discussed. In this phenomenon, observed X-ray light curves and spectra can be modeled by stellar evolution calculations that take nuclear reactions of rare isotopes as input information. This presentation also works as an introduction to the following presentation that will provide more detailed discussion on the experimental aspect of X-ray burst.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.91-94
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• 2013

We use the outer gap model to explain the spectrum and the energy dependent light curves of the X-ray and soft ${\gamma}$-ray radiations of the spin-down powered pulsar PSR B1509-58. In the outer gap model, most pairs inside the gap are created around the null charge surface and the gap's electric field separates the opposite charges to move in opposite directions. Consequently, the region from the null charge surface to the light cylinder is dominated by the outflow current and that from the null charge surface to the star is dominated by the inflow current. We suggest that the viewing angle of PSR B1509-58 only receives the inflow radiation. The incoming curvature photons are converted to pairs by the strong magnetic field of the star. The X-rays and soft ${\gamma}$-rays of PSR B1509-58 result from the synchrotron radiation of these pairs. The magnetic pair creation requires a large pitch angle, which makes the pulse profile of the synchrotron radiation distinct from that of the curvature radiation. We carefully trace the pulse profiles of the synchrotron radiation with different pitch angles. We find that the differences between the light curves of different energy bands are due to the different pitch angles of the secondary pairs, and the second peak appearing at E > 10 MeV comes from the region near the star, where the stronger magnetic field allows the pair creation to happen with a smaller pitch angle.

• 천문학회지
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• 제56권2호
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• pp.231-252
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• 2023

We present the analysis results of the simultaneous multifrequency observations of the blazar 4C +28.07. The observations were conducted by the Interferometric Monitoring of Gamma-ray Bright Active Galactic Nuclei (iMOGABA) program, which is a key science program of the Korean Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Network (KVN). Observations of the iMOGABA program for 4C +28.07 were conducted from 16 January 2013 (MJD 56308) to 13 March 2020 (MJD 58921). We also used γ-ray data from the Fermi Large Array Telescope (Fermi-LAT) Light Curve Repository, covering the energy range from 100 MeV to 100 GeV. We divided the iMOGABA data and the Fermi-LAT data into five periods from 0 to 4, according to the prosody of the 22 GHz data and the presence or absence of the data. In order to investigate the characteristics of each period, the light curves were plotted and compared. However, a peak that formed a hill was observed earlier than the period of a strong γ-ray flare at 43-86 GHz in period 3 (MJD 57400-58100). Therefore, we assumed that the minimum total CLEANed flux density for each frequency was quiescent flux (S_q) in which the core of 4C +28.07 emitted the minimum, with the variable flux (S_var) obtained by subtracting S_q from the values of the total CLEANed flux density. We then compared the variability of the spectral indices (α) between adjacent frequencies through a spectral analysis. Most notably, α_22-43 showed optically thick spectra in the absence of a strong γ-ray flare, and when the flare appeared, α_22-43 became optically thinner. In order to find out the characteristics of the magnetic field in the variable region, the magnetic field strength in the synchrotron self-absorption (B_SSA) and the equipartition magnetic field strength (B_eq) were obtained. We found that B_SSA is largely consistent with B_eq within the uncertainty, implying that the SSA region in the source is not significantly deviated from the equipartition condition in the γ-ray quiescent periods.

• 천문학회보
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• 제42권1호
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• pp.45.2-46
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• 2017

3C 84 (NGC 1275) is one of the most famous radio galaxies and a lot of VLBI observations have been conducted to date because of its brightness and proximity (z = 0.0176; 1 mas = 0.36 pc). The source is entering a significantly active phase with long-term increase in radio flux at cm wavelengths since 2005, and the increased activity at very-high-energy (VHE) gamma rays. In order to study properties of sub-pc-scale structure and the circumnuclear environment in 3C 84, we have conducted multi-epoch VLBI observations with the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) at 86 and 129 GHz, and monthly monitoring by the KVN and VERA Array (KaVA) at 43 GHz from 2015 August. Following the report in the previous KAS meeting (cf. 2016 KAS Autumn Annual Meeting, [구 GC-10]), we present further results mainly on the basis of twelve-epoch observations with KaVA at 43 GHz. Through the monthly monitoring with KaVA, we found that peak intensity of the pc-scale southern lobe (C3) was increased from $2.60\;Jy\;beam^{-1}$ in 2015 October to $9.80\;Jy\;beam^{-1}$ in 2016 June, corresponding to a flux increase of 3.7 times in eight months. We also detected change in direction of motion of C3 from transversal to outward with respect to C1, concurrently with the beginning of its flux increase in 2015 October. We consider that these phenomena are due to interaction of C3 with the ambient medium, and are related to the gamma-ray flare which has been detected with VHE gamma-ray telescopes such as MAGIC and VERITAS.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.1-6
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• 2002

Recently, one interesting possibility is proposed that a magnetar can be a progenitor of short and hard gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). If this is true, one may expect that the short and hard GRBs, at least some of GRBs in this class, are distributed in the Euclidean space and that the angular position of these GRBs is correlated with galaxy clusters. Even though it is reported that the correlation is statistically marginal, the observed value of < $V/V_{max}$ > deviates from the Euclidean value. The latter fact is often used as evidence against a local extragalactic origin for short GRB class. We demonstrate that GRB sample of which the value of < $V/V_{max}$ > deviates from the Euclidean value can be spatially confined within the low value of z. We select very short bursts (TgO < 0.3 sec) from the BATSE 4B catalog. The value of < $V/V_{max}$ > of the short bursts is 0.4459. Considering a conic-beam and a cylindrical beam for the luminosity function, we deduce the corresponding spatial distribution of the GRB sources. We also calculate the fraction of bursts whose redshifts are larger than a certain redshift z', i.e. f>z'. We find that GRBs may be distributed near to us, despite the non-Euclidean value of < $V/V_{max}$ >. A broad and uniform beam pattern seems compatible with the magnetar model in that the magnetar model requires a small $z_{max}$.

• 천문학회보
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• 제43권2호
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• pp.31.3-31.3
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• 2018

On August 17th 2017, for the first time in the history, the gravitational wave (GW) detectors recorded signals coming from the merger of two neutron stars. This event was named as GW170817, and more interestingly, gamma-ray emission was detected 2 seconds after the gravitational wave signal, and 11 hours later, telescopes in Chile identified that the GW signal came from the NGC 4993 galaxy at the distance of about 40 Mpc. This is again the first time that electromagnetic (EM) signals are detected for a GW source. The follow-up observations by astronomers all around the world, including our group in Korea, successfully identified the optical emission as the kilonova, the elusive optical/NIR counterpart that has been proposed to originate from a neutron star merger. This whole event started the new era of astronomy, so-called the "multi-messenger astronomy", where the combined information from GW and EM radiation reveals an unprecedented view of the universe. In this talk, I summarize this exciting event, and describe the efforts by Korean astronomers that have led to important discoveries about the kilonova and the host galaxy properties, and finally provide the future prospects.

• 천문학논총
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• 제30권2호
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• pp.565-568
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• 2015

In this work, we study the correlation between the photon index (${\Gamma}$) of the X-ray spectrum and the 2-10 keV X-ray luminosity ($L_X$) for black hole X-ray binaries (BHBs). The BHB sample is mainly from the quiescent, hard and intermediate states, with values of $L_X$ ranging from ${\sim}10^{30.5}$ to $10^{37.5}$ erg $s^{-1}$. We find that the photon index ${\Gamma}$ is positively or negatively correlated with the X-ray luminosity $L_X$, for $L_X$ above or below a critical value, ${\sim}10^{36.5}$ erg $s^{-1}$. This result is consistent with previous works. Moreover, when $L_X{\leq}{\sim}10^{33}$ erg $s^{-1}$, we found that the photon index is roughly independent of the X-ray luminosity. We interpret the above correlations in the framework of a coupled hot accretion flow - jet model. Besides, we also find that in the moderate-luminosity region, different sources may have different anti-correlation slopes, and we argue this diversity is caused by the different value of ${\delta}$, which describes the fraction of turbulent dissipation that directly heats electrons.

• 천문학회지
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• 제48권4호
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• pp.207-212
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• 2015

We introduce the Lee Sang Gak Telescope (LSGT), a remotely operated, robotic 0.43-meter telescope. The telescope was installed at the Siding Spring Observatory, Australia, in 2014 October, to secure regular and exclusive access to the dark sky and excellent atmospheric conditions in the southern hemisphere from the Seoul National University (SNU) campus. Here, we describe the LSGT system and its performance, present example images from early observations, and discuss a future plan to upgrade the system. The use of the telescope includes (i) long-term monitoring observations of nearby galaxies, active galactic nuclei, and supernovae; (ii) rapid follow-up observations of transients such as gamma-ray bursts and gravitational wave sources; and (iii) observations for educational activities at SNU. Based on observations performed so far, we find that the telescope is capable of providing images to a depth of R = 21:5 mag (point source detection) at 5-σ with 15 min total integration time under good observing conditions.

• 천문학회보
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• 제36권1호
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• pp.84.2-84.2
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• 2011

Astrophysical jets play important roles in many interesting astronomical phenomena, such as star formation, gamma-ray bursts, and active galactic nuclei. The jets are thought to be driven by rotating disks through magneto-centrifugal processes. However, quantitative understanding of the jet-driving mechanism has been difficult because examples showing rotation in both disk and jet are rare. One of the important quantities in the models of jet engine is the size of the jet-launching region. The bipolar jet of the NGC 1333 IRAS 4A2 protostar shows a lateral velocity gradient, which suggests that the SiO jet is rotating around its axis. The jet rotation is consistent with the rotation of the accretion disk. The disk-jet rotation kinematics suggests that the jet-launching region on the disk, or the outflow foot-ring, has a radius of about 2 AU, which supports the disk-wind models.