• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.48.2-48.2
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• 2012

We present preliminary results of a statistical study on the nuclear activity of compact group galaxies. What triggers Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) is still a puzzling problem. One of the suggested AGN triggering mechanisms is galaxy-galaxy interaction. Many simulations have shown that gas can be supplied to the center of galaxies during galaxy encounters. In this regard, compact groups of galaxies are an ideal laboratory for studying the connection between galaxy interaction and nuclear activity because of their high densities and low velocity dispersions. We study the environmental dependence of the activity in galactic nuclei using 59 compact groups in the SDSS DR6. Using the emission line data, we classify galaxies in the compact groups. We find that 19% of the compact group galaxies are pure star-forming nuclei, 10% as transition objects, and only 7% of the galaxies in compact groups show the nuclear activity. The AGN fraction of compact group is higher than galaxy clusters, but lower than field environment. Implications of this result will be discussed.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.72.1-72.1
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• 2017

Energetic ionized gas outflows driven by active galactic nuclei (AGN) have been studied as a key phenomenon related to AGN feedback. To probe the kinematics of the gas in the narrow line region, [O III] ${\lambda}5007$ has been utilized in a number of studies, showing non-virial kinematic properties due to AGN outflows. We statistically investigate whether the $H{\alpha}$ emission line is influenced by AGN driven outflows, by measuring the kinematic properties based on the $H{\alpha}$ line profile, and by comparing them with those of [O III]. Using the spatially integrated spectra of ~37,000 Type 2 AGNs at z < 0.3 selected from the SDSS DR7, we find a non-linear correlation between $H{\alpha}$ velocity dispersion and stellar velocity dispersion, which reveals the presence of the non-gravitational component, especially for AGNs with a wing component in $H{\alpha}$. The large $H{\alpha}$ velocity dispersion and velocity shift of luminous AGNs are clear evidence of AGN outflow impacts on $H{\alpha}$ emitting gas, while relatively smaller kinematic properties compared to those of [O III] imply that the observed outflow effect on the $H{\alpha}$ line is weaker than the case of [O III].

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.70.1-70.1
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• 2011

We have investigated properties of merging galaxies in the nearby universe, using Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7. We first constructed two galaxy samples according to redshift range: Sample 1 for 0 ${\leq}$ z ${\leq}$ 0.025 and Sample 2 for 0.09 ${\leq}$ z ${\leq}$ 0.1. We then identified 118 and 184 merging galaxies among the galaxies in the Sample 1 and 2, respectively, and classified them into different merging types and stages by visual inspection of galaxy images. In the Sample 1, there are more wet mergers than dry mergers, while most merging galaxies in the Sample 2 are dry mergers. The color-magnitude diagram of the merging galaxies in our samples is comparable to that of normal galaxies. Dry mergers tend to locate in the red sequence, while wet and mixed mergers reside mostly in the blue cloud. Unlike some previous studies, we did not find a clear trend that the merger rate increases at higher redshift. However, it is difficult to make a direct comparison of the merger rate found in different studies, because it depends on the number of observed galaxies and criteria for merger classification. From the ratios of emission lines, we infer that the faction of merging galaxies with AGNs is higher in wet mergers than in other types.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.40.1-40.1
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• 2014

We have classified barred galaxies for 418 RC3 sample galaxies within z < 0.01 from SDSS DR7 using the visual inspection, ellipse fitting method and Fourier analysis. We found the bar fraction to be ~60%, 43% and 70% for each method and that the ellipse fitting method tends to miss the bar when a large bulge hides the transition from bar to disk in early spirals. We also confirmed that the Fourier analysis cannot distinguish between a bar and spiral arm structure. These systematic difficulties may have produced the long-time controversy about bar fraction dependence on Hubble sequence, mass and color. We designed a new method to fine bars by analyzing the ratio map of bar strength in polar coordinates, which yields the bar fraction of ~27% and ~32% for SAB and SB, respectively. The consistency with visual inspection reaches around 70%, and roughly 90% of visual strong bar are classified as SAB and SB in our classification. Although our method also has a weakness that a large bulge lowers the value of bar strength, the missing bar fraction in early spirals is reduced to the level of ~1/4 compared to the ellipse fitting method. Our method can make up for the demerits of the previous automatic classifications and provide a quantitative bar classification that agrees with visual classification.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.75.1-75.1
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• 2012

Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 galaxies are arguably the most important AGN subclass in investigating the origin of the black hole mass-galaxy stellar velocity dispersion (MBH-${\sigma}$) relation because of their high accretion rates close to the Eddington limit. Currently, it is still under discussion whether NLS1s are off from the local MBH-${\sigma}$ relation. We select a sample of 325 NLS1 at relatively low redshift (z<0.1) from the SDSS DR7 by constraining FWHM of $H{\beta}$ in the range of 800-2,200 km/s. Among them, we measured stellar velocity dispersion of 40 objects which show strong stellar absorption lines, e.g. Mg b triplet(${\sim}5175{\AA}$), Fe($5270{\AA}$). In contrast, the other 285 objects show too weak stellar absorption lines to measure velocity dispersion. Using the sample of 40 objects with stellar velocity dispersion measurements, we investigate whether NLS1s follow the same MBH-${\sigma}$ relation as normal galaxies and broad line AGNs. We also test the reliability of the width of narrow lines as a surrogate of stellar velocity dispersion by comparing directly measured stellar velocity dispersion with ${\sigma}$ inferred from [O III], [N II], [S II] line widths, respectively. We will discuss the connection between AGN activity in NLS1s and galaxy evolution based on these results.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.85.1-85.1
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• 2012

Energetic outflow from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) may play a critical role in galaxy evolution. We present a velocity diagnostics for detecting gas outflow in the narrow-line region of Type-2 AGNs using line-of-sight velocity offset of the [O III]${\lambda}5007$ and $H{\alpha}$ emission lines with respect to the systemic velocity of stars in host galaxies. We apply the diagnostics to nearby galaxies at 0.02 < z < 0.05: 3775 AGN-host and 907 star-forming galaxies as a comparison sample, which are selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7. After obtaining a best-fit stellar population model for the continuum and a systemic velocity based on stellar lines, we subtract stellar component to measure velocity offsets of each emission line. We find a sample of 169 AGN-host galaxies with outflow signatures, displaying a larger velocity shift of [O III] than that of $H{\alpha}$, as expected in a decelerating outflow model. We find that the offset velocity of [O III] increases with Eddington ratio, suggesting that gas outflow depends on the energetics of AGN.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.32.1-32.1
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• 2018

The galactic warp is almost ubiquitous among disk galaxies and suspected to be an imprint of recent interactions with other galaxies. The detailed evolutionary course, however, is still uncertain due to the lack of observational evidence. To address this issue, we construct a new extensive catalog of 412 conspicuously warped disks at z = 0.01 ~ 0.05, based on SDSS DR7. We classify the warp morphology through a visual inspection from the Zooniverse Project and our new automated scheme for the warp measurement. We find an interesting color difference between S-and U-shaped warps. The U-type warp galaxies exhibits considerable color offset towards blue compared to both the S-type warps and the control sample of un-warped galaxies. The effect is even more pronounced for galaxies (a) with the greater warp amplitude and (b) with lower luminosity. This is the first piece of observational evidence that the S- and U-shaped warps are on different evolutionary phases in terms of not only dynamics but stellar populations as well. We discuss the implications in the context of the warp evolution theory.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.54.2-54.2
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• 2018

나선 은하의 60%의 은하들은 그 중심에 막대를 가지고 있다고 알려져 있다. 그리고 막대 은하들 중 다시 30%의 은하들이 그 중심에 두 번째 막대를 가지고 있다는 보고들이 있었다. 우리는 SDSS/DR7을 기반으로 z < 0.01 안에 은하들을 눈으로 분류한 Ann et al. (2015) 카탈로그 중 Lee et al. (2018, submitted)에서 사용된 Mr = -15.2 보다 밝고, $60^{\circ}$이하로 기울어진 막대 은하 553개를 이용하여 막대 안에 있는 두 번째 막대를 찾고자 했다. 우리는 ellipse fitting profile을 조사하여 58개의 은하들에서 그 중심에 기존 막대의 형태를 따르지 않고 장축이 어긋나 있으며, 타원율에 변화를 보이는 두 번째 막대의 흔적을 찾았다. 그 중 9개의 은하에서 색지도, 등광도 그리고 unsharp image 등에서 두 번째 막대를 확인했다. 이것은 이전의 30개 내외의 은하들를 대상으로 했던 연구들에서 확인된 것에 비해 매우 적은 비율이라 할 수 있다. 9개의 두 번째 막대들 중 5개는 강한 막대 (SB)안에서 발달해 있고, 4개는 약한 막대 (SAB) 안에 발달해 있어, 수치적으로는 두 번째 막대의 강한 막대와 약한 막대 사이의 선호도 차이는 없어 보인다. 하지만, 약한 막대 안에 발달해 있는 두 번째 막대들은 막대와 서로 다른 방향의 타원 구조만 보이는 반면, 강한 막대 안에 발달해 있는 두번째 막대들은 nuclear ring, nuclear arm등과 함께 더욱 발달된 모습을 보인다. 또한 두 번째 막대를 가지고 있는 8개의 은하 모두에서 주 막대를 따라 중심부로 길게 늘어서 먼지 띠가 뚜렷하게 보이고, 허블 분류에서는 Sab(T=3), Sb (T=4)에 주로 분포해있다.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.47.1-47.1
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• 2013

We present structural parameters of galaxies in the Extended Viro Cluster Catalog (EVCC), new catalog of galaxies in the Viro cluster using homogeneous Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Date Release 7 (DR7) data. The EVCC covers more extended region of the Viro cluster than of the Virgo Cluster Catalog (VCC) and presents updated morphologies of galaxies using multi-band images and spectral features. We obtain the surface brightness profiles of galaxies using ellipse task in IRAF. Based on the analysis of surface brightness profile we construct a catalog of various structural parameters of galaxies, i.e. central surface brightness, effective radius, sersic index, effective surface brightness, and mean effective surface brightness. Taking advantage of these structural parameters in various parameter spaces, we refine criteria of dividing giant elliptical and dwarf elliptical galaxies. In addition, we found that bulge dominated galaxies have larger sersic index and brighter central surface brightness than disk dominated galaxies. At fixed magnitude, dwarf elliptical galaxies dwarf lenticular galaxies, and dwarf irregular low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies show larger effective radii than giant elliptical galaxies, giant lenticular galaxies, and irregular high surface brightness (HSB) galaxies, respectively. Dwarf elliptical galaxies and dwarf irregular LSB galaxies occupy the similar structural parameter spaces. We suggest that giant elliptical galaxies and dwarf elliptical galaxies may have different origin.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2013

We investigate the dependence of the extended X-ray emission from the halos of optically luminous early-type galaxies on the small-scale (the nearest neighbor distance) and large-scale (the average density inside the 20 nearest galaxies) environments. We cross-match the 3rd Data Release of the Second XMMNewton Serendipitous Source Catalog (2XMMi-DR3) to a volume-limited sample of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 with $M_r$ < -19.5 and 0.020 < z < 0.085, and find 20 early-type galaxies that have extended X-ray detections. The X-ray luminosity of the galaxies is found to have a tighter correlation with the optical and near infrared luminosities when the galaxy is situated in the low large-scale density region than in the high large-scale density region. Furthermore, the X-ray to optical (r-band) luminosity ratio, $L_X/L_r$, shows a clear correlation with the distance to the nearest neighbor and with large-scale density environment only where the galaxies in pair interact hydrodynamically with seperations of $r_p$ < $r_{vir}$. These findings indicate that the galaxies in the high local density region have other mechanisms that are responsible for their halo X-ray luminosities than the current presence of a close encounter, or alternatively, in the high local density region the cooling time of the heated gas halo is longer than the typical time between the subsequent encounters.