• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.221.1-221.1
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• 2012

The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) is developing three 1.6m optical telescopes with $18k{\times}18k$ mosaic CCD cameras. These telescopes will be installed and operated at Chile, South Africa, and Australia for Korea Micro-lensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) project. The main scientific goal of the project is to discover earth-like extra-solar planets using the gravitational micro-lensing technique. To achieve the goal, each telescope at three sites will continuously monitor the specific region of Galactic bulge with 2.5 minute cadence for five years. Assuming 12 hour observation in maximum for a night, the amount of 200 GB file storage is required for one night observation at one observatory. If we consider the whole project period and the data processing procedure, a few PB class data storage, high-speed network, and high performance computers are essential. In this presentation, we introduce the KMTNet data management plan that handles gigantic data; raw image collecting, image processing, photometry pipeline, database archiving, and backup.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.77.3-77.3
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• 2019

Aims. The evolution of scaling relations between SMBHs and their host galaxies becomes uncertain at high redshifts. The HULQ project proposes to use gravitational lensing to measure the masses of QSO host galaxies, an otherwise difficult goal. SMBH masses of QSOs are relatively easy to determine using either reverberation mapping or the single-epoch method. These measurements, if made for a substantial number of QSOs at various redshifts, will allow us to study the co-evolution of SMBHs and their host galaxies. To determine the feasibility of this study, we present how to estimate the number of sources lensed by QSO hosts, i.e. the number of deflector QSO host galaxies (hereafter QSO lenses). Method and results. Using SMBH masses measured from SDSS DR14 spectra, and the M_BH - Sigma relation, the Einstein radii are calculated as a function of source redshift, assuming singular isothermal sphere mass distributions. Using QSOs and galaxies as sources, the probability of a QSO host galaxy being a QSO lens is calculated, depending on the limiting magnitude. The expected numbers of QSO lenses are estimated for ongoing and future wide-imaging surveys, and additional factors that may affect these numbers are discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.39-45
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• 2009

We investigate the degeneracy in the pattern of central microlensing perturbations of a pair of planetary systems where the planets are located from the primary with projected separations in units of the Einstein radius s and $s^{-1}$, respectively. From this, we confirm the fact that although alike, the patterns of central perturbations induced by a close (s < 1) planet and a wide (s > 1) planet are not identical and the degree of difference depends on the planet/primary mass ratio and the planet-primary separation. We find that the difference can be greater than 5% for planetary systems with lensing parameters located in the parameter space of (1/1.8 < |s| < 1.8, q > $5{\times}10^{-3}$), (1/1.3 < |s| < 1.3, q > $1{\times}10^{-3}$), and (1/1.2 < |s| < 1.2, q > $5{\times}10^{-4}$), where q represents the planet/primary mass ratio. Although this range occupies a small fraction of the entire parameter space of planetary systems, we predict that the chance of resolving the close/wide degeneracy would not be meager considering that the planet detection efficiency is higher for planets with resonant separations (s $\sim$ 1) and heavier masses. We also find that the differences between the perturbation patterns are basically caused by the effect of the planetary caustic. This explains the tendency of the perturbation difference where (1) the difference increases as the planet/primary mass ratio increases and the separation approaches the Einstein radius, (2) the region of major difference is confined within the region around the line connecting the central and the planetary caustics, and (3) a wide (close) planetary system has a more extended central perturbation region toward the (opposite) direction of the planet.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.389-392
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• 2015

We identify a strong lensing galaxy in the cluster IRC 0218 that is spectroscopically confirmed to be at z = 1.62, making it the highest-redshift strong lens galaxy known. The lens is one of the two brightest cluster galaxies and lenses a background source galaxy into an arc and a counterimage. With Hubble Space Telescope (HST) grism and Keck/LRIS spectroscopy, we measure the source redshift to be $z_S=2.26$. Using HST imaging, we model the lens mass distribution with an elliptical power-law profile and account for the effects of the cluster halo and nearby galaxies. The Einstein radius is $^{\theta}E=0.38^{+0.02{\prime}{\prime}}_{-0.01}$ ($3.2^{+0.2}_{-0.1}kpc$) and the total enclosed mass is $M_{tot}(<^{\theta}_E)=1.8^{+0.2}_{-0.1}{\times}10^{11}M_{\odot}$. We estimate that the cluster environment contributes ~ 10% of this total mass. Assuming a Chabrier IMF, the dark matter fraction within $^{\theta}E$ is $f^{Chab}_{DM}=0.3^{+0.1}_{-0.3}$, while a Salpeter IMF is marginally inconsistent with the enclosed mass ($f^{Salp}_{DM}=-0.3^{+0.2}_{-0.5}$).

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2000

As an efficient method to detect blending of general gravitational microlensing events, it is proposed to measure the shift of source star image centroid caused by microlensing. The conventional method to detect blending by this method is measuring the difference between the positions of the source star image point spread function measured on the images taken before and during the event (the PSF centroid shift, ${\delta}{\theta}$c,PSF). In this paper, we investigate the difference between the centroid positions measured on the reference and the subtracted images obtained by using the difference image analysis method (DIA centroid shift, ${\delta}{\theta}$c.DIA), and evaluate its relative usefulness in detecting blending over the conventional method based on ${\delta}{\theta}$c,PSF measurements. From this investigation, we find that the DIA centroid shift of an event is always larger than the PSF centroid shift. We also find that while ${\delta}{\theta}$c,PSF becomes smaller as the event amplification decreases, ${\delta}{\theta}$c.DIA remains constant regardless of the amplification. In addition, while ${\delta}{\theta}$c,DIA linearly increases with the increasing value of the blended light fraction, ${\delta}{\theta}$c,PSF peaks at a certain value of the blended light fraction and then eventually decreases as the fraction further increases. Therefore, measurements of ${\delta}{\theta}$c,DIA instead of ${\delta}{\theta}$c,PSF will be an even more efficient method to detect the blending effect of especially of highly blended events, for which the uncertainties in the determined time scales are high, as well as of low amplification events, for which the current method is highly inefficient.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.433-438
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• 2004

Clusters of galaxies generally form by the gravitational merger of smaller clusters and groups. Major cluster mergers are the most energetic events in the Universe since the Big Bang. The basic properties of cluster mergers and their effects are discussed. Mergers drive shocks into the intracluster gas, and these shocks heat the intracluster gas. As a result of the impulsive heating and compression associated with mergers, there is a large transient increase in the X-ray luminosities and temperatures of merging clusters. These merger boost can affect X-ray surveys of clusters and their cosmological interpretation. Similar boosts occur in the strong lensing cross-sections and Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect in merging clusters. Merger shock and turbulence associated with mergers should also (re)accelerate nonthermal relativistic particles. As a result of particle acceleration in shocks and turbulent acceleration following mergers, clusters of galaxies should contain very large populations of relativistic electrons and ions. Observations and models for the radio, extreme ultraviolet, hard X-ray, and gamma-ray emission from nonthermal particles accelerated in these shocks will also be described. Gamma-ray observations with GLAST seem particularly promising.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.355-359
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• 2004

Differential Faraday Rotation measurements between the images of same background source, of multiply-imaged gravitational lens systems can be effectively used to provide a valuable probe to establish the existence of large-scale ordered magnetic fields in lensing galaxies as well as galaxy clusters. Estimates of the magnetic field in lens galaxies, based on the radio polarization measurements do not appear to show any clear evidence for evolution with redhsift of the coherent large scale magnetic field between redshift of 0.9 and the present epoch. However, our method clearly establishes the presence of coherent large scale magnetic field in giant ellitpical galaxies.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.319-324
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• 2005

To date, more than 150 exo-solar planets have been observed by various methods such as spectroscopic, photometric, astrometric, gravitational lensing, pulsar timing methods. However, all these are indirect methods; they do not directly image the planets. Only free-floating planets or their 'ana-log' have been directly detected so far. Thus the next milestone is the direct imaging of any kinds of planetary mass objects orbiting around normal (young) stars, which might have been associated with protoplanetary disks, the sites of planet formation. I will describe some SUBARU efforts to detect self-luminous young giant planets as companions as well as direct imaging of the protoplanetary disks of ${\~}$100 AU size. The results of near-infrared coronagraphic imaging with adaptive optics are briefly presented on AB Aur, HD 142527, T Tau, and DH Tau. Our results demonstrate the importance of high-resolution (${\~}$0.1 arcsec) direct imaging over indirect observations such as modeling based on spectral energy distributions. The SUBARU observations are a prelude to ALMA from the morphological point of view.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.83-92
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• 2015

Recent large scale surveys such as Sloan Digital Sky Survey have produced homogeneous samples of multiple-image gravitationally lensed quasars with well-defined selection effects. Statistical analysis on these can yield independent constraints on cosmological parameters. Here we use the image separation statistics of lensed quasars from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Quasar Lens Search (SQLS) to derive constraints on cosmological parameters. Our analysis does not require knowledge of the magnification bias, which can only be estimated from the detailed knowledge on the quasar luminosity function at all redshifts, and includes the consideration for the bias against small image separation quasars due to selection against faint lens galaxy in the follow-up observations for confirmation. We first use the mean image separation of the lensed quasars as a function of redshift to find that cosmological models with extreme curvature are inconsistent with observed lensed quasars. We then apply the maximum likelihood test to the statistical sample of 16 lensed quasars that have both measured redshift and magnitude of lens galaxy. The likelihood incorporates the probability that the observed image separation is realized given the luminosity of the lens galaxy in the same manner as Im et al. (1997). We find that the 95% confidence range for the cosmological constant (i.e., the vacuum energy density) is $0.72{\leq}{\Omega}_{\Lambda}{\leq}1.0$ for a flat universe. We also find that the equation of state parameter can be consistent with -1 as long as the matter density ${\Omega}_m{\leq}0.4$ (95% confidence range). We conclude that the image separation statistics incorporating the brightness of lens galaxies can provide robust constraints on the cosmological parameters.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.305-307
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• 2017

We have identified 22 quasars in the AKARI far-infrared all-sky Bright Source Catalogue, using a matching radius of < 10", and excluding matches which are close to foreground extended sources or cirrus. We have confirmed a relation between quasar optical luminosity and far-infrared luminosity which was found in an earlier study. In addition, we have found that the 11 sources which are at redshift z > 1 are magnified with respect to the predicted far-infrared luminosity, and consider this may be due to gravitational lensing. If confirmed, this would provide a new way to identify lenses; if not, we may have identified an interesting new population of extreme starbursting quasars.