• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.114-114
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• 2014

We present our activities linking to planning of possible forms of large program to study on circumstellar H2O and SiO maser sources with KaVA. A great advantage of KaVA for the stellar maser observations is the combination of the unique capability of the multi-frequency phase referencing technique of KVN and the dual-beam astrometry of VERA with the KaVA's relative dense antenna configuration. We have demonstrated this advantage through the test observations conducted by the KaVA Evolved Stars Sub-working Group since 2012 March. Snapshot KaVA imaging is confirmed to be possible in integration time of 0.5 hour at the 22 GHz band and 1.0 hour at the 43 GHz band in typical cases. This implies that large snapshot imaging surveys towards many H2O and SiO stellar masers are possible within a reasonable machine time (e.g., scans on ~100 maser sources within 200 hours). This possibility enables us to select the maser sources, which are suitable for future long-term (10 years) intensive (biweekly-monthly) monitoring observations, from 1000 potential target candidates selected from dual-frequency band (K/Q-bands) KVN single-dish observations. The output of the survey programs will be used for statistical analysis of the structures of individual stellar maser clumps and the spatio-kinematical structures of circumstellar envelopes with accelerating outflows. The combination of astrometry in milliarcsecond(mas) level and the multi-phase referencing technique yields not only trigonometric parallax distances to the masers but also precise position reference for registration of different maser lines. The accuracy of the map registration affects interpretation of the excitation mechanism of the SiO maser lines and the origin of the variety of the maser actions, which are expected to reflect periodic behaviors of the circumstellar envelope with stellar pulsation. Currently we are checking the technical feasibility of KaVA operations for this combination. After this feasibility test, the long-term monitoring campaign program will run as one of KaVA's legacy projects.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.83-92
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• 2004

In this paper, we introduce the development of the large storage system in order to record the observed space radio signal in the Korean VLBI Network(KVN) with high-speed. The KVN is the Very Long Baseline Interferometery(VLBI) to observe the birth of star, the structure of space by constructing radio telescope with diameter 21m at the Seoul, Ulsan, Jeju from 2001 to 2007 years. To do this, Korea Astronomy Observatory joined the international consortium for developing the high-speed large storage system(Mark 5), which is developed by MIT Haystack observatory. The Mark 5 system based on hard disk has to record up to 1 Gbps the observed space radio signal. The main features of Mark 5 system are as follows; First it is able to directly record the input data to the hard disk without PC1(Peripheral Component Interconnect) internal bus, and the second, it has two hard disk banks, which are able to hot-swap ATA/IDE type very cheap up to 1 Gbps recording and playback. The third is that it follows the international VLBI standard interface hardware(VSI-H). Therefore it can be connect directly the VSI-H type system at the input/output. Finally it also supports e- VLBI(Electronic-VLBI) through the standard Gigabits Ethernet connection.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.285-298
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• 2015

Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) with bright radio jets offer the opportunity to study the structure of and physical conditions in relativistic outflows. For such studies, multi-frequency polarimetric very long baseline interferometric (VLBI) observations are important as they directly probe particle densities, magnetic field geometries, and several other parameters. We present results from first-epoch data obtained by the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) within the frame of the Plasma Physics of Active Galactic Nuclei (PAGaN) project. We observed seven radio-bright nearby AGN at frequencies of 22, 43, 86, and 129 GHz in dual polarization mode. Our observations constrain apparent brightness temperatures of jet components and radio cores in our sample to > 10^8.01 K and > 10^9.86 K, respectively. Degrees of linear polarization m_L are relatively low overall: less than 10%. This indicates suppression of polarization by strong turbulence in the jets. We found an exceptionally high degree of polarization in a jet component of BL Lac at 43 GHz, with m_L ~ 40%. Assuming a transverse shock front propagating downstream along the jet, the shock front being almost parallel to the line of sight can explain the high degree of polarization.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.267-275
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• 2015

Simultaneous time monitoring observations of H₂O and SiO maser lines were performed toward the D-type symbiotic binary system V407 Cyg with the Korean VLBI Network single dish radio telescope. These monitoring observations were carried out from March 2, 2010 (optical phase ϕ = 0.0), 8 days before the nova outburst on March 10, 2010 to June 5, 2014 (ϕ = 2.13). Eight days before the nova outburst, we detected the SiO v = 1, 2, J = 1–0 maser lines which exhibited values of 0.51 K (∼ 6.70 Jy) and 0.71 K (∼ 9.30 Jy), respectively, while after the outburst we could not detect them on April 2 (ϕ = 0.04), May 5 (ϕ = 0.09), May 8 (ϕ = 0.09), or on June 5, 2010 (ϕ = 0.13) within the upper limits of our KVN observations. After restarting our monitoring observations, we detected SiO v = 2, J = 1–0 masers starting on October 20, 2011 (ϕ = 0.83) and detected SiO v = 1, J = 1–0 masers starting on December 22, 2011 (ϕ = 0.92). These results provide clear evidence of the interaction between the shock from the nova outburst and the SiO maser regions of the Mira envelope. The peak emission of SiO v = 1, 2, J = 1–0 masers always occurred at blueshifted velocities with respect to the stellar velocity except for that of SiO v = 1 at one epoch. These phenomena may be related to the redistribution of SiO maser regions after the outburst. The peak velocity variations of SiO masers associated with stellar pulsation phases show an increasing blueshifted trend during our monitoring interval after the outburst.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.46.3-47
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• 2017

We performed simultaneous VLBI observations of H2O 616-523 (22.2 GHz) and SiO v=1, 2, J=1-0 (43.1, 42.8 GHz) and v=1, J=2-1, J=3-2 (86.2, 129.3 GHz) masers toward VX Sagittarius using the Korean VLBI Network (KVN). The astrometrically registered maps of the 22.2 GHz H2O and 43.1, 42.8, 86.2 SiO masers were successfully obtained at two epochs of 2016 February 27 and 2016 March 27 by adopting the Source Frequency Phase Referencing (SFPR) method. In addition we detected 129.3 Ghz SiO maser at second epoch. These results make it possible to determine the accurate position of central star as a dynamical center of 22.2 GHz H2O maser and relative locations of 43.1, 42.8, 86.2, 129.3 GHz SiO masers. In addition, it is possible to investigate the morphological and kinematic variations of clumpy structures from SiO maser to H2O maser regions in future together with the development of asymmetric structure of H2O maser region.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.28.3-29
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• 2017

We present the results of very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations of gamma-ray bright blazar S5 0716+714 using the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) at the 22, 43, 86, and 129 GHz bands, which are part of the KVN key science program known as the Interferometric Monitoring of Gamma-ray Bright AGNs (iMOGABA). Multi-frequency VLBI observations were conducted in 29 sessions from January 16, 2013 to March 1, 2016. The source was detected and imaged in all available frequency bands. For all observed epochs, the source is compact on the milliarcsecond (mas) scale, yielding a compact VLBI core dominating the synchrotron emission on the mas scale. Based on the multi-wavelength data at 15 and 230 GHz, we found that the source shows multiple prominent enhancements of the flux density at the centimeter (cm) and millimeter (mm) wavelengths, with mm enhancements leading cm enhancements with a time lag of $18{\pm}5$ days. Turnover frequency is found to vary over our observations between 22 to 69GHz. Taking into account the synchrotron self-absorption model of the relativistic jet in S5 0716+714, we estimated the magnetic field strength in the mas emission region to be 0.4-66 mG during the observing period, finding that the magnetic field strength is strongly correlated with the turnover frequency and the relatively strong magnetic field (e.g., B > 40 mG) is correlated with flux enhancements at mm wavelengths (e.g., 86 GHz).

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.51.1-51.1
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• 2013

We present molecular line observations of a small group of Young Stellar Objects (YSOs), L1251C. Observations by Spitzer Space Telescope legacy program "From Molecular Cores to Planet Forming Disks"(c2d; Evans et al. 2003) revealed that there are three YSOs within ~15" in L1251C: IRS1 (Class I), IRS2 (Class II), and IRS3 (Class II). In order to understand the molecular environment around these YSOs, we carried out the KVN single-dish observations in $HCO^+$ J=1-0, $H^{13}CO^+$ J=1-0, $N_2H^+$ J=1-0 and HCN J=1-0. CO J=1-0 was also mapped in L1251C with the TRAO 14m telescope. Integrated intensity maps of high density tracers such as $H^{13}CO^+$ J=1-0, $N_2H^+$ J=1-0 and HCN J=1-0 show similar emission distributions, whose peaks are off from the positions of YSOs. However, $HCO^+$ J=1-0, which is believed to trace both infall and outflow, presents its emission distribution different from those of other molecular transitions. The line profile of $HCO^+$ J=1-0 is superimposed by two velocity (narrow and broad) components. The $HCO^+$ outflow map reveals multiple structures while the CO outflow map elongates mainly along the EW direction. With the KVN single dish, the 22 GHz $H_2O$ maser emission has been also monitored toward L1251C to find variations of the systemic velocity and intensity with time.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.66.1-66.1
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• 2016

We present our observational results of BL Lacertae(2200+420) obtained at 22, 43, 86, and 129 GHz simultaneously during 27 months(2013.Jan ~ 2015.Mar) which includes their two gamma-ray outbursts(2013.Oct & 2015.Mar) to study a connection between the gamma-ray outbursts and the radio activity. We mainly use a Korean VLBI monitoring program, IMOGABA(Interferometric Monitoring Of Gamma-ray Bright AGNs) which is a monthly monitoring program with the KVN(Korean VLBI Network). Overall, our KVN image shows two components in the map, a stationary core at the center and one moving jet component to the south, but almost core only at 86, 129 GHz. The location of the moving jet component in the maps depend on the frequencies that 22, 43, 86, and 129 GHz. We have checked light curves, spectral index, kinematics, and radio structure to find differences before and after the gamma-ray outbursts, but there was no significant correlation. We also have derived a decay time scale of ~9 months for the major radio outburst by applying an exponential decay fitting.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.71-80
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• 2012

We have developed superconducting mixer receivers for 129 GHz VLBI observation in Korean VLBI Network (KVN). The developed mixer has a radial waveguide probe with simple transmission line L-C transformer as a tuning circuit to its 5 series-connected junctions, which can have 125 - 165 GHz as the operation radio frequency (RF). For intermediate frequency (IF) signal path a high impedance quarter-wavelength line connects the probe to one end of symmetric RF chokes. The double side band (DSB) receiver noise of the mixer was about 40 K over 4 - 6 GHz IF band, whereas we achieved the uncorrected single side band (SSB) noise temperature of about 70 K and better than 10 dB image rejection ratio in 2SB configuration with 8 - 10 GHz IF band. Insert-type receiver cartridges employing the mixers have been under commission for KVN stations.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.240.2-240.2
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• 2012

AGN(Active Galactic Nucleus) consists of a supermassive black hole located at its center, an accretion disk around the black hole, and bipolar jets. Since May 2011, we have performed the MOGABA(Monitoring Of GAmma-ray Bright AGN) project for observing gamma-ray bright AGN once a week at multifrequencies using KVN(Korean VLBI Network) 21m radio telescopes. The MOGABA project is the observations for measuring the degree of polarization, polarization angle, and total flux of about 20 AGN at 22, 43 and 86GHz. By this project, we are able to investigate polarization characteristics, spectral index, and variation of rotation measure at radio wavelengths of gamma-ray bright AGN and to study possible relation between gamma-ray flares and magnetic field structure change in AGN. According to previous research, gamma-ray flares of some AGN are coincident with large changes in angle of linear polarization. In this paper we report the preliminary results of linear polarization and total flux at 22, 43, 86GHz of gamma-ray bright quasars 3C279 and 1510-089 showing noticeable variation of total flux at 22GHz in late 2011, and discuss possible correlation with gamma ray light curves.