• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.47-63
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• 2021

Variability is one of the major characteristics of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), and it is used for understanding the energy generation mechanism in the center of AGN and/or related physical phenomena. It it known that there exists a time lag between AGN light curves simultaneously observed at different wavelengths, which can be used as a tool to estimate the size of the area that produce the radiation. In this paper, We present long term near-infrared variability of optically bright type 1 AGN using the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer data. From the Milliquas catalogue v6.4, 73 type 1 QSOs/AGN and 140 quasar candidates are selected that are brighter than 18 mag in optical and located within 5 degree around the ecliptic poles. Light curves in the W1 band (3.4 ㎛) and W2 band (4.6 ㎛) during the period of 2010-2019 were constructed for these objects by extracting multi-epoch photometry data from WISE and NEOWISE all sky survey database. Variability was analyzed based on the excess variance and the probability P_var. Applying both criteria, the numbers of variable objects are 19 (i.e., 26%) for confirmed AGN and 12 (i.e., 9%) for AGN candidates. The characteristic time scale of the variability (τ) and the variability amplitude (σ) were derived by fitting the DRW model to W1 and W2 light curves. No significant correlation is found between the W1/W2 magnitude and the derived variability parameters. Based on the subsample that are identified in the X-ray source catalog, there exists little correlation between the X-ray luminosity and the variability parameters. We also found four AGN with changing W1-W2 color.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.64.2-64.2
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• 2019

It is known that lights scattered by comets and asteroids are partially polarized. From polarimetric observations of those objects, we can investigate physical properties, such as albedos, sizes of cometary dust particles and regolith of asteroids. Since the polarization degrees of those objects highly depend on their phase angles (Sun-object-observer's angles), long-term monitoring observations are required. Moreover, comets show unforeseeable activations (i.e., outbursts) which need follow-up observations to understand the mechanism. In order to realize such monitoring and transient observations, we installed the Triple-Range Imager and POLarimeter (TRIPOL) on the 61cm telescope of Seoul National University (Hereafter, SNU) Gwanak campus. With this combination, we can obtain g', r', i' bands photopolarimetric images simultaneously with $8.0^{\prime}{\times}8.0^{\prime}$ field of view and pixel resolution of 0.94" pixel-1. Here, we make a presentation regarding the photometric and polarimetric performances of TRIPOL on the SNU 61cm telescope. In addition, we introduce initial polarimetric results of asteroid and comets with the instruments. First, we determine the limiting magnitudes (defined as magnitudes for S/N=5) of $15.17{\pm}0.06$ (g'-band), $15.68{\pm}0.01$ (r'-band), $16.24{\pm}0.03$ (I'-band), respectively, with total 240-seconds exposure (four 60-seconds exposure images, each was taken at different rotation angle for the half-wave plate). Second, we found that the instrumental polarization is negligibly small, ($-0.32{\pm}0.04%$ in the g', $-0.36{\pm}0.05%$ in the r' and $-0.21{\pm}0.04%$ in the i'-bands), while the polarization efficiencies are large enough to maximize the performance (i.e., $97.52{\pm}0.03%$ in the g', $98.83{\pm}0.02%$ in the r' and $99.15{\pm}0.02%$ in the i'-bands). With the instruments, we made observations of three Jupiter-family comets, 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, 38P/Stephan-Oterma, and 46P/Wirtanen and plan to observe one near-Earth asteroid, (433) Eros, on a trial basis. Especially for comets, we discriminate signals from dust and gas to eliminate gas contamination, which are known to change observed degree of linear polarization, using multi-band images. We confirm that the phase angle dependency of these comets are consistent with previous observations, probably because polarimetric property of Jupiter-family comets are broadly homogeneous unlike asteroids. We will also describe future observation plans using TRIPOL and SNU 61cm telescope.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.153-194
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• 2009

The resources of outer space are for the common exploitation of mankind, and it is a common responsibility of mankind to protect the outer space environment. With the rapid development of space science and technology, and especially with the busy space activities of some major space powers, environmental contamination or space debris is steadily increasing in quantity and has brought grave potential threats and actual damage to the outer space environment and human activities in space. Especially We must mitigate and seek out a solution to remove space debris which poses a threat directly to man's exploitation and use of outer space activities in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and in the Geostationary Orbit (GEO), through international cooperation and agreement in the fields of space science, economics, politics and law, in order to safeguard the life and property of mankind and protect the earth's environment. While the issue of space debris has been the subject of scientific study and discussion for some time now, it has yet to be fully addressed within the context of an international legal framework. During the earlier stages of the space age, which began in the late 1950s, the focus of international lawmakers and diplomats was the establishment of basic rules which sought to define the legal nature of outer space and set out the parameters for space activities and the nature and scope of activities carried out in outer space were quite limited. Consequently, environmental issues and the risks that might arise from the generation of space debris did not receive priority attention within the context of the development international space law. In recent years, however, the world has seen dramatic advances in technology and increases in the type and number of space-related activities which are being carried out. In addition, the number of actors in this field has exploded from two highly developed States to a vast array of different States, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, including private industry. Therefore, the number of artificial objects in the near-Earth space is continually increasing. As has been previously mentioned, COPUOS was the entity that created the existing five treaties, and five sets of legal Principles, which form the core of space law, and COPUOS is clearly the most appropriate entity to oversee the creation of this regulatory body for the outer space environmental problem. This idea has been proposed by various States and also at the ILA Conference in Buenos Aires. The ILA Conference in Buenos Aires produced an extensive proposal for such a regulatory regime, dealing with space debris issues in legal terms This article seeks to discuss the status of international law as it relates to outer space environmental problem and space debris and indicate a course of action which might be taken by the international community to develop a legal framework which can adequately cope with the complexity of issues that have recently been recognized. In Section Ⅱ,Ⅲ and IV of this article discuss the current status of international space law, and the extent to which some of the issues raised by earth and space environment are accounted for within the existing United Nations multilateral treaties. Section V and VI discuss the scope and nature of space debris issues as they emerged from the recent multi-year study carried out by the ILA, Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, Legal Subcommittee of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space ("COPUOS") as a prelude to the matters that will require the attention of international lawmakers in the future. Finally, analyzes the difficulties inherent in the future regulation and control of space debris and the activities to protect the earth's environment. and indicates a possible course of action which could well provide, at the least, a partial solution to this complex challenge.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.08a
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• pp.49-69
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• 2004

One of the important roles of geophysical exploration in archeological survey may be to provide the subsurface information for effective and systematic excavations of historical remains. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPA) can give us images of shallow subsurface structure with high resolution and is regarded as a useful and important technology in archeological exploration. Since the buried cultural relics are the three-dimensional (3-D) objects in nature, the 3-D or areal survey is more desirable in archeological exploration. 3-D GPR survey based on the very dense data in principle, however, might need much higher cost and longer time of exploration than the other geophysical methods, thus it could have not been applied to the wide area exploration as one of routine procedures. Therefore, it is important to develop an effective way of 3-D GPR survey. In this study, we applied 3-D GPR method to investigate the possible historical remains of Baekje Kingdom at Gatap-Ri, Buyeo city, prior to the excavation. The principal purpose of the investigation was to provide the subsurface images of high resolution for the excavation of the surveyed area. Besides this, another purpose was to investigate the applicability and effectiveness of the continuous data acquisition system which was newly devised for the archeological investigation. The system consists of two sets of GPR antennas and the precise measurement device tracking the path of GPR antenna movement automatically and continuously Besides this hardware system, we adopted a concept of data acquisition that the data were acquired arbitrary not along the pre-established profile lines, because establishing the many profile lines itself would make the field work much longer, which results in the higher cost of field work. Owing to the newly devised system, we could acquire 3-D GPR data of an wide area over about $17,000 m^2$ as a result of the just two-days field work. Although the 3-D GPR data were gathered randomly not along the pre-established profile lines, we could have the 3-D images with high resolution showing many distinctive anomalies which could be interpreted as old agricultural lands, waterways, and artificial structures or remains. This case history led us to the conclusion that 3-D GPR method can be used easily not only to examine a small anomalous area but also to investigate the wider region of archeological interests. We expect that the 3-D GPR method will be applied as a one of standard exploration procedures to the exploration of historical remains in Korea in the near future.