• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2000

We developed a Monte Carlo code that describes the resonant Ly$\alpha$ line transfer in an optically thick, dusty, and static medium. The code was tested against the analytic solution derived by Neufeld (1990). We explain the line transfer mechanism by tracing histories of photons in the medium. We find that photons experiences a series of wing scatterings at the moment of thier escape from the medium, during which polarization may develop. We examined the amount of dust extinction for a wide range of dust abundances, which are compared with the analytic solution. Brief discussions on the astrophysical application of our work are presented.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.219-220
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• 2012

We present the results of far-infrared spectroscopic observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with FIS-FTS. We covered a large area across the LMC, including 30 Doradus (30 Dor) and N44 star-forming regions, by 191 pointings in total. As a result, we detect the [OIII] and [CII] line emission as well as far-infrared dust continuum emission throughout the LMC. We find that the [OIII] emission is widely distributed around 30 Dor. The observed size of the distribution is too large to be explained by massive stars in 30 Dor, which are assumed to be enshrouded by clouds with the constant gas density estimated from the [OIII] line intensities. Therefore the surrounding structure is likely to be highly clumpy. We also find a global correlation between the [OIII] and the far-infrared continuum emission, suggesting that the gas and dust are well mixed in the highly-ionized region where the dust survives in clumpy dense clouds shielded from energetic photons. Furthermore we find that the ratios of [CII]/CO are as high as 110,000 in 30 Dor, and 45,000 even on average, while they are typically 6,000 for star-forming regions in our Galaxy. The unusually high [CII]/CO is also consistent with the picture of clumpy small dense clouds.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.31.3-32
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• 2015

We present the physical properties of star forming regions in IC 10 obtained from Korea VLBI Network (KVN) 22GHz, the Submillimeter Array (SMA) CO, Very Large Array (VLA) HI 21cm, optical (U, B, V and H-alpha), and Spitzer infrared observations. IC 10 is a nearby (~0.7Mpc) irregular blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxy which is likely to be experiencing an intense and recent burst of star formation. This nearby infant system showing high star formation rate but low metallicity (<20% of that of the Sun) provides critical environment of interstellar medium (ISM) under which current galactic star formation models are challenged. To make quantitative analysis of the ISM in the galaxy, we apply 2D cross-correlation technique to the multi-wavelength data for the first time. By cross-correlating different tracers of star formation, dust and gas phases in IC 10 in a two dimensional way, we discuss the gas properties and star formation history of the galaxy.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.193-197
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• 2004

Anomalies in the far-infrared [C II] 158 ${\mu}m$ line emission observed in the central one-kiloparsec regions of spiral galaxies are reviewed. Low far-infrared intensity ratios of the [C II] line to the continuum were observed in the center of the Milky Way, because the heating ratio of the gas to the dust is reduced by the soft interstellar radiation field due to late-type stars in the Galactic bulge. In contrast, such low line-to-continuum ratios were not obtained in the center of the nearby spiral M31, in spite of its bright bulge. A comparison with numerical simulations showed that a typical column density of the neutral interstellar medium between illuminating sources at $hv {\~} 1 eV $ is $N_H {\le}10^{21}\;cm^{-2}$ in the region; the medium is translucent for photons sufficiently energetic to heat the grains but not sufficiently energetic to heat the gas. This interpretation is consistent with the combination of the extremely high [C Il]/CO J = 1-0 line intensity ratios and the low recent star-forming activity in the region; the neutral interstellar medium is not sufficiently opaque to protect the species even against the moderately intense incident UV radiation. The above results were unexpected from classical views of the [C II] emission, which was generally considered to trace intense interstellar UV radiation enhanced by active star formation.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.151-158
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• 2000

We conducted a deep CCD observations in V band to obtain stellar density distribution and to determine the distances toward two molecular clouds with anomalous velocity in the Galactic anti-center region. Star count method based on the linear programming technique was applied to the CCD photometric data. We found two prominent peaks at distances of around 1.4 and 2.7 kpc. It is found that the first peak coincides well with stellar density enhancement of B8-A0 stars and the second one with the outer Perseus arm. The effect of the choice of the luminosity function is discussed. The stellar number density distribution is used to derive the distances to the molecular clouds and the visual extinctions caused by the clouds. We found that two molecular clouds are located almost at the same distance of about 1.1 $\pm$ 0.1 kpc, and the peak extinctions caused by the clouds are about 2.2 $\pm$ 0.3 mag in V band.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.87-88
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• 2015

We present results of our R-band polarimetry of a bright-rimmed cloud, IC1396A (with BRC 36), associated with the H II region S131 and the cometary globule LDN 1616 to study their magnetic field geometry. The distances of these clouds have been reported to be ~ 750 pc and ~ 450 pc, respectively in the literature. The young open cluster Trumpler 37 in the vicinity of IC1396A and the high mass stars in the Orion belt near L1616 are found to be responsible for the structure of these clouds. We made polarimetry of foreground stars inferred from their distances measured by the Hipparcos satellite to subtract the foreground contribution to the observed polarization results. We discuss the optical polarimetric results and compare our findings with MHD simulations towards BRCs and CGs.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.93-99
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• 2012

We present a 1.1mm emission map of the OMC1 region observed with AzTEC, a new large-format array composed of 144 silicon-nitride micromesh bolometers, that was in use at the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). These AzTEC observations reveal dozens of cloud cores and a tail of filaments in a manner that is almost identical to the submillimeter continuum emission of the entire OMC1 region at 450 and $850{\mu}m$. We perform Fourier analysis of the image with a modified periodogram and the density power spectrum, which provides the distribution of the length scale of the structures, is determined. The expected value of the periodogram converges to the resulting power spectrum in the mean squared sense. The present analysis reveals that the power spectrum steepens at relatively smaller scales. At larger scales, the spectrum flattens and the power law becomes shallower. The power spectra of the 1.1mm emission show clear deviations from a single power law. We find that at least three components of power law might be fitted to the calculated power spectrum of the 1.1mm emission. The slope of the best fit power law, ${\gamma}{\approx}-2.7$ is similar to those values found in numerical simulations. The effect of beam size and the noise spectrum on the shape and slope of the power spectrum are also included in the present analysis. The slope of the power law changes significantly at higher spatial frequency as the beam size increases.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.225-230
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• 2012

Supernovae (SN) and supernova remnants (SNRs) play a major role in the life-cycle of interstellar dusts. Fast shock waves generated by SN explosions sweep out the interstellar space destroying dust grains and modifying their physical and chemical properties. The dense, cooling SN ejecta, on the other hand, provide an environment for dusts to condense. Recent space-infrared telescopes have revealed the hidden universe related to these fascinating microscopic processes. In this paper, I introduce the results on stardusts in young core-collapse supernova remnants obtained by AKARI. The AKARI results show diverse infrared characteristics of stardusts associated with SNRs, implying diverse physical/chemical stellar structures and circumstellar environments at the time of explosion.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.56.3-56.3
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• 2017

The Breakthrough Starshot initiative aims to launch gram-scale spacecraft to a speed of v~0.2c, capable of reaching Alpha Centauri and seeing the Earth-like exoplanet, Proxima b, from close distance, in about 20 years. However, a critical challenge for the initiative is the effects of interstellar matter and magnetic field to the relativistic spacecraft during the journey. In this talk, I will first present our evaluation for the damage to the spacecraft by interstellar gas and dust based on a detailed analysis of the interaction of a relativistic spacecraft with the ISM. Second, I will discuss the deflection and oscillation of spacecraft by interstellar magnetic fields. Third, I will discuss the gas drag fore at high energy regime and quantify its effect on the slowing down of the relativistic lightsails. Finally, we will discuss practical strategies to mitigate the damage by interstellar dust and to maintain the spacecraft aiming at the intended target.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.42.2-42.2
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• 2017

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is a unique target to study the detail structures of molecular clouds and star-forming regions, due to its proximity and face-on orientation from us. Most part of the astrophysical subjects for the LMC have been investigated, but the magnetic field is still veiling despite its role in the evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) and in the main force to influence the star formation process. Measuring polarization of the background stars behind interstellar medium allows us to describe the existence of magnetic fields through the polarization vector map. In this presentation, I introduce the near-infrared polarimetric results for the $39^{\prime}{\times}69^{\prime}$ field of the northeastern region of the LMC and the N159/N160 star-forming complex therein. The polarimetric observations were conducted at IRSF/SIRPOL 1.4 m telescope. These results allow us to examine both the global geometry of the large-scale magnetic field in the northeastern region and the close structure of the magnetic field in the complex. Prominent patterns of polarization vectors mainly follow dust emission features in the mid-infrared bands, which imply that the large-scale magnetic fields are highly involved in the structure of the dust cloud in the LMC. In addition, local magnetic field structures in the N159/N160 star-forming complex are investigated with the comparison between polarization vectors and molecular cloud emissions, suggesting that the magnetic fields are resulted from the sequential formation history of this complex. I propose that ionizing radiation from massive stellar clusters and the expanding bubble of the ionized gas and dust in this complex probably affect the nascent magnetic field structure.