• 천문학회지
• /
• 제47권1호
• /
• pp.15-39
• /
• 2014

Polarization is a basic property of light and is fundamentally linked to the internal geometry of a source of radiation. Polarimetry complements photometric, spectroscopic, and imaging analyses of sources of radiation and has made possible multiple astrophysical discoveries. In this article I review (i) the physical basics of polarization: electromagnetic waves, photons, and parameterizations; (ii) astrophysical sources of polarization: scattering, synchrotron radiation, active media, and the Zeeman, Goldreich-Kylafis, and Hanle effects, as well as interactions between polarization and matter (like birefringence, Faraday rotation, or the Chandrasekhar-Fermi effect); (iii) observational methodology: on-sky geometry, influence of atmosphere and instrumental polarization, polarization statistics, and observational techniques for radio, optical, and $X/{\gamma}$ wavelengths; and (iv) science cases for astronomical polarimetry: solar and stellar physics, planetary system bodies, interstellar matter, astrobiology, astronomical masers, pulsars, galactic magnetic fields, gamma-ray bursts, active galactic nuclei, and cosmic microwave background radiation.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제36권4호
• /
• pp.190-194
• /
• 2011

After the first report that electrons with sub-ionization energy of DNA could cause single strand breaks or double strand breaks to DNA, there have been various studies to investigate the mechanisms of DNA damage by low-energy electrons. In this paper, we examined the possibility of using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) to analyze the dissociation patterns of the molecular bonds by electron irradiation on DNA thin films and tried to establish the method as a general tool for studying the radiation damage of biomolecules by low energ yelectrons. For the experiment, pBR322 plasmid DNA solution was formed into the films on tantalum plates by lyophilization and was irradiated by 5-eV electrons. Un-irradiated and irradiated DNA films were compared and analyzed using the XPS technique.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
• /
• 제10권4호
• /
• pp.162-168
• /
• 2006

The variation of global coherence on propagation plane by plane is examined in the framework of coherent mode representation. It is explained through concrete examples that the global coherence may in general be enhanced, may be reduced, or may not change. When the mode functions form a complete set and the corresponding eigenvalues are in nitely degenerate, there necessarily develops a certain amount of global coherence on propagation, which is the essence of van Cittert-Zernike theorem. The propagation generates a certain pattern of the eigenvalue spectrum from the initial flat one and this is shown to be related to the non-unitarity of the propagation kernel.

• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
• /
• 제10권4호
• /
• pp.157-161
• /
• 2006

A synchrotron light source is useful in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) regime for olecular spectroscopy, such as photo absorption, photoionization, and dissociative hotoionization. In this research, we used a double-ion chamber (DIC) to measure hotoabsorption cross sections of a NO molecule in the wavelength range from 90 to 135 nm of 3B1 beam-line of the Pohang synchrotron light source with the resolution of the onochromator being 0.06 nm. The appearance wavelength for ionization was measured to be $134.19{\pm}0.09nm$ that is placed in the middle of the reported values though they don't agree with each other within the relative error limits. The auxiliary experimental works ave been done to test if there are any systematic error sources. The resultant ross-sections agree with previous results in general.

• 천문학회지
• /
• 제45권6호
• /
• pp.147-156
• /
• 2012

We present a test of the emission statistics of active galactic nuclei (AGN), probing the connection between the red-noise temporal power spectra and multi-modal flux distributions known from observations. We simulate AGN lightcurves under the assumption of uniform stochastic emission processes for different power-law indices of their respective power spectra. For sufficiently shallow slopes (power-law indices (${\beta}{\leq}1$), the flux distributions (histograms) of the resulting lightcurves are approximately Gaussian. For indices corresponding to steeper slopes (${\beta}{\geq}1$), the flux distributions become multi-modal. This finding disagrees systematically with results of recent mm/radio observations. Accordingly, we conclude that the emission from AGN does not necessarily originate from uniform stochastic processes even if their power spectra suggest otherwise. Possible mechanisms include transitions between different activity states and/or the presence of multiple, spatially disconnected, emission regions.

• 천문학논총
• /
• 제30권2호
• /
• pp.163-167
• /
• 2015

We have carried out integral field unit (IFU) spectroscopy of $H{\alpha}$, [$N{\small{II}}$] and [$O{\small{III}}$] emission lines for a sample of Galactic planetary nebulae (PNe) with Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars and weak emission-line stars (wels). Comparing their spatially-resolved kinematic observations with morpho-kinematic models allowed us to disentangle their three-dimensional gaseous structures. Our results indicate that these PNe have axisymmetric morphologies, either bipolar or elliptical. In many cases the associated kinematic maps for the PNe around hot central stars also reveal the presence of so-called fast low-ionization emission regions.

• 천문학논총
• /
• 제30권2호
• /
• pp.159-161
• /
• 2015

We have carried out optical spectroscopic measurements of emission lines for a sample of Galactic planetary nebulae with Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars and weak emission-line stars (wels). The plasma diagnostics and elemental abundance analysis have been done using both collisionally excited lines (CELs) and optical recombination lines (ORLs). It was found that the abundance discrepancy factors ($ADF{\equiv}ORL/CEL$) are closely correlated with the difference between temperatures derived from forbidden lines and those from $He\;{\small{I}}$ recombination lines, implying the existence of H-deficient materials embedded in the nebula. The $H{\beta}$ surface brightness correlations suggest that they might be also related to the nebular evolution.

• 천문학회지
• /
• 제47권5호
• /
• pp.195-199
• /
• 2014

We present a GUI-based interactive Python program, VIMAP, which generates radio spectral index maps of active galactic nuclei (AGN) from Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) maps obtained at different frequencies. VIMAP is a handy tool for the spectral analysis of synchrotron emission from AGN jets, specifically of spectral index distributions, turn-over frequencies, and core-shifts. In general, the required accurate image alignment is difficult to achieve because of a loss of absolute spatial coordinate information during VLBI data reduction (self-calibration) and/or intrinsic variations of source structure as function of frequency. These issues are overcome by VIMAP which in turn is based on the two-dimensional cross-correlation algorithm of Croke & Gabuzda (2008). In this paper, we briefly review the problem of aligning VLBI AGN maps, describe the workflow of VIMAP, and present an analysis of archival VLBI maps of the active nucleus 3C 120.

• 천문학회지
• /
• 제51권5호
• /
• pp.165-170
• /
• 2018

The Galactic Center is one of the most dense stellar environments in the Galaxy and is considered to be a plausible place to harbor many neutron stars. In this brief review, we summarize observational efforts in search of neutron stars within a few degrees about the Galactic Center. Up to 10% of Galactic neutron stars may reside in this central region and it is possible that more than a thousand neutron stars are located within only ~ 2500 (${\leq}1pc$) about the Galactic Center. Based on observations, we discuss prospects of detecting neutron stars in the Galactic Center via gravitational waves as well as electromagnetic waves.

• Journal of Magnetics
• /
• 제17권3호
• /
• pp.210-213
• /
• 2012

To detect the surface and the opposite side cracks on iron specimen under AC and DC magnetic fields, the planar inductive coil sensors were employed. When the induced signals were measured, the planar inductive coil sensor and the magnetic field source were lifted off about 2 mm from the top surface of the specimen. AC magnetic fields and DC magnetic fields were applied to the specimens by single straight Cu coil and NdFeB permanent magnet, respectively. The detected signals at crack positions were good coincidence with those of the simulation results.