• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.15-20
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• 2001

We observed the thermal transitions of SiO (J=I-0, 2-1) and $^{29}SiO$ (J=l-O) toward the Sgr A molecular clouds. The distribution and the velocity structure of SiO are very similar to previous results for 'quiet' interstellar molecules. We think· that the SiO has been well mixed with other molecules such as $H_2$ which may indicate that the formation of Sgr A molecular clouds was affected by the activities, such as shock waves or energetic photons, from the Galactic center in large scales. The total column density of SiO is about $4.1\times10^{14} cm^{-2}$ and the fractional abundance $SiO/H_2$ appears to be about 10 times larger than those of other clouds in the central region of our galaxy. The derived values are thought to be lower limits since the optical depths of the observed SiO lines are not very thin. The formation of SiO has been known to be critically related to shocks, and our results provide informative data on the environment of our Galactic center.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.265-268
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• 2004

Molecular clouds present many levels of structure, including clumps and cores of varying size and density. We present a brief summary of these cores, describing their observed physical properties and their place in the star formation process. We conclude with some speculation about pre-proto-stellar stages of molecular cores and the observational challenges in their observation.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.215-218
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• 2005

An atlas of high resolution (${\lambda}/{\Delta}{\lambda}$=45,000) profiles of interstellar atomic lines of K I (7665, 7699 ${\AA}$), Na I (D 1, D2), Ca II (H, K), Ca I (4227 ${\AA}$), molecular structures of CH, CH+, CN and the major diffuse interstellar bands at 5780 and 5797 ${\AA}$ based on ${\~}$300 echelle spectra of ${\~}$200 OB stars is presented. Relationships between the reddenings, distances and equivalent widths of NaI, CaII, KI, CH, CH+, CN and diffuse bands are discussed. The equivalent width of K I (7699 ${\AA}$) as well as of CH4300 ${\AA}$ / correlate very tightly with E(B- V) in contrast to the features of neutral sodium, ionized calcium and the molecular ion CH+. The equivalent widths of the Hand K lines of Call grow with distance at a rate ${\~}$250m${\AA}$ per 1 kpc. A similar relation for NaI is much less tight. The strengths of neutral potassium lines, molecular features and diffuse interstellar bands do not correlate practically with distance. These facts suggest that ionized calcium fills the interstellar space quite homogeneously while the other carriers mentioned above, especially K I, CH and these of diffuse bands occupy more and more compact volumes, also filled with dust grains. Apparently the carriers of narrow diffuse bands are spatially correlated with simple molecules and dust grains - all abundant in the so-called 'zeta' type clouds. The same environment seems to be hostile to the carriers of broad diffuse interstellar bands (DIEs) (like 5780 or 6284) and -to a certain extent - also to CaII, NaI and CH+.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.13-16
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• 2011

The $CH_3OH$ $4_2-5_1$ E transition was observed toward the Sgr B2 region, including the Principal Cloud and its surroundings. This methanol transition shows an extended emission along the 2'N cloud, which is believed to be colliding with the Principal Cloud and may trigger the massive star formation in this cloud. This extended methanol emission may also suggest that the 2'N cloud is under shocks. We derive total methanol column density $N(CH_3OH)\;=\;2.9{\pm}0.3{\times}10^{14}\;cm^{-2}$ toward the peak position of the extended emission. The fractional abundance of methanol is about 10.9, relative to the estimated total $H_2$ abundance, which is similar to the methanol abundances in quiet gas phase.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.29 no.spc1
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• pp.183-186
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• 1996

We report the results of H I 21-cm and molecular line studies of the shocked interstellar gas in the W51 complex. We present convincing evidences suggesting that the shocked gas has been produced by the interaction of the W51C supernova remant (SNR) with a large molecular cloud, Our results show that W51C is the second SNR with direct evidences for the shocked cloud material.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.279-282
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• 2005

We report the millimeter-wave radio observations of molecular cloud cores in Taurus. The observed line is the $N_2H^+$ emission at 93 GHz, which is known to be less affected by molecular depletion. We have compared starless (IRAS-less) cores with star-forming cores. We found that there is no large difference between starless and star-forming cores, in core radius, linewidth, core mass, and radial intensity profile. Our result is in contrast with the result obtained by using a popular molecular line, in which starless cores are larger and less condensed. We suggest that different results mainly come from whether the employed molecular line is affected by depletion or not. We made a virial analysis, and found that both starless and star-forming cores are not far from the critical equilibrium state, in Taurus. Together with the fact that Taurus cores are almost thermally supported, we conclude that starless Taurus cores evolve to star formation without dissipating turbulence. The critical equilibrium state in the virial analysis corresponds to the critical Bonnor-Ebert sphere in the Bonnor-Ebert analysis (Nakano 1998). It is suggested that the initial condition of the molecular cloud cores/globules for star formation is close to the critical equilibrium state/critical Bonnor-Ebert sphere, in the low-mass star forming region.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.255-264
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• 1995

The HII region S140 and the associated molecular cloud L1204 have been observed with 10 molecular transitions, CO (1-0), $^{13}CO$ (1-0), $C^{18}O$ (1-0), CS (2-1), $HCO^+$ (1-0), HCN (1-0), SO (${2_2}-{1_1}$), $SO_2(2_{20}-3_{13})$, OCS (8-7), and $HNCO\;(4_{04}-3_{03})$ with ${\sim}50"$ angular resolutions. More than 7,000 spectra were obtained in total. The morphology of this region shows a massive fragment (the S140 core) and the extended envelope to the northeast. Several gas condensations have been identified in the envelope, having masses of ${\sim}10^{3}M_{\odot}$ and gas number densities of ${\lesssim}10^{4}cm^{-3}$ to $3{\times}10^{5}cm^{-3}$ in their cores. The column densities of the observed molecular species toward the S140 core appear to be the typical warm clouds' abundances. It seems to be that the S140 core and L1204 have been swept up by an expanding shell called the Cepheus bubble. The large value of $L_{IR}$(embedded\;stars)/$M_{cloud}\;{\sim}\;5\;L_{\odot}$/$M_{\odot}$ of the S140 core may suggest that the star formation has been stimulated by the HII region, but the shock velocity and the pressure of the region seem to give a hint of the spontaneous star formation by the self gravity.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.61-65
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• 2007

The 2-1 and 5-4 transitions of SiO have been observed toward the Sgr B2 region, including the Principal Cloud(the GMC containing Sgr B2(M)) and its surroundings. The morphology and velocity structure of the SiO emission show a close resemblance with the HNCO Ring feature, identified by Minh & Irvine(2006), of about 10 pc in diameter, which may be expanding and colliding with the Principal Cloud. Three SiO clumps have been found around the Ring, with total column densities $N_{SiO}{\sim}1{\times}10^{14}cm^{-2}$ at the peak positions of these clumps. The fractional SiO abundance relative to $H_2$ has been estimated to be ${\sim}(0.5-1){\times}10^{-9}$, which is about two orders of magnitude larger than the quiet dense cloud values. Our SiO observational result supports the existence of an expanding ring, which may be triggering active star formations in the Principal Cloud.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.69-72
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• 2005

The FIMS (Far-ultraviolet IMaging Spectrograph; also known as SPEAR, Spectroscopy of Plasma Evolution from Astrophysical Radiation) is the primary payload of the STSAT-1, the first Korean science satellite, which was launched in September, 2003. The FIMS performs spectral imaging of diffuse far-ultraviolet emission with the unprecedented wide field of view and the relatively good spectral resolution. We present far-ultraviolet spectral observations of highly ionized interstellar medium including supernova remnants, superbubbles, soft X-ray shadows, and the molecular hydrogen fluorescent emission lines. The FIMS has detected He II, C III, 0 III, O IV, Si IV, O VI, and $H_2$ fluorescent emission lines. The emission lines arise in shocked or thermally heated and in photo-ionized gases. We present an overview of the FIMS instrument and its initial observational results.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2000

We have investigated the properties of the high-latitude cloud MBM 7 using the 3 mm transitions of CO, CS, HCN, $HCO^+,\;C_3H_2,\;N_2H^+$, and SiO. The molecular component of MBM 7 shows a very clumpy structure with a size of $\le$0.5 pc, elongated along the northwest-southeast direction, perpendicularly to an extended HI component, which could be resulted from shock formation. We have derived physical properties for two molecular cores in the central region. Their sizes are 0.1-0.3 pc and masses 1-2 M$\bigodot$ having an average volume density $\~2{\times}10^3 cm^{-3}$ at the peak of molecular emission. We have tested the stability of the cores using the full version of the virial theorem and found that the cores are stabilized with ambient medium, and they are expected not to be dissipated easily without external perturbations. Therefore MBM 7 does not seem to be a site for new star formation. The molecular abundances in the densest core appear to be much less (by about one order of magnitude) than the 'general' dark cloud values. If the depletions of heavy elements are not significant in the HLCs compared with those in typical dark clouds, our results may suggest different chemical evolutionary stages or different chemical environments of the HLCs compared with dense dark clouds in the Galactic plane.