• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.44.4-45
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• 2020

The solar chromosphere can be observed well through strong absorption lines. We infer the physical parameters of chromospheric plasmas from these lines using a multilayer spectral inversion. This is a new technique of spectral inversion. We assume that the atmosphere consists of a finite number of layers. In each layer the absorption profile is constant and the source function is allowed to vary with optical depth. Specifically, we consider a three-layer model of radiative transfer where the lowest layer is identified with the photosphere and the two upper layers are identified with the chromosphere. This three-layer model is fully specified by 13 parameters. Four parameters can be fixed to prescribed values, and one parameter can be determined from the analysis of a satellite photospheric line. The remaining eight parameters are determined from a constrained least-squares fitting. We applied the multilayer spectral inversion to the spectral data of the Hα and the Ca II 854.21 nm lines taken in a quiet region by the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) of the Goode Solar Telescope (GST). We find that our model successfully fits most of the observed profiles and produces regular maps of the model parameters. We conclude that our multilayer inversion is useful to infer chromospheric plasma parameters on the Sun.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.78.2-78.2
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• 2021

We present high resolution spectroscopic observations of transverse magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in mottles located near the solar disk center. Different from previous studies that used transversal displacements of the mottles in the imaging data, we investigated the line-of-sight (LOS) velocity oscillations of the mottles in the spectral data. The observations were carried out by using the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph of the 1.6 meter Goode Solar Telescope of Big Bear Solar Observatory. Utilizing the spectral data of the Hα and Ca II 8542 Å lines, we measure the LOS velocity of a quiet region including the mottles and rosettes that correspond to the footpoints of the mottles. Our major findings are as follows: (1) Alfvénic waves are pervasive in the mottles. (2) The dominant period of the waves is 2 to 4 minutes. (3) From the time-distance maps of the three-minute filtered LOS velocity constructed along the mottles, it is revealed that the transverse waves in the mottles are closely related to the longitudinal waves in the rosettes. Our findings support the notion that Alfvénic waves can be generated by mode conversion of the slow magnetoacoustic waves as was shown in sunspot regions by Chae et al. (2021).

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.77.2-77.2
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• 2021

Starting with the observation of sunspots in 1987, Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) has developed and installed various ground-based instruments for space weather research in Korea. Recently, SNIPE and CODEX are also being developed as space-based instruments. Expansion of the observation area and simultaneous observation have become important in the study of space weather. We have started Next-Generation Space Weather Observation Network Project this year. In order to establish a solar observation network, we planned to develop the Next Solar Telescope (NxST) which is a solar imaging spectrograph, and to install three NxST in the northern hemisphere. And we also planned to develop the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Observation System (TIMOS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and Geomagnetic packages, and install them in about ten sites over the world, for the purpose of establishing a global observation network for the near-earth space weather. We can take simultaneously observed space weather data in the global area, and are expecting it will play an important role in the international community for space weather research. We also have a strategy to secure observational technologies necessary for big space missions in the future, through this project.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2023

We have been conducting a exoplanet search survey using Bohyunsan Observatory Echelle Spectrograph (BOES) for the last 18 years. We present the detection of exoplanet candidate in orbit around HD 18438 from high-precision radial velocity (RV) mesurements. The target was already reported in 2018 (Bang et al. 2018). They conclude that the RV variations with a period of 719 days are likely to be caused by the pulsations because the Lomb-Scargle periodogram of HIPPARCOS photometric and H_α EW variations for HD 18438 show peaks with periods close to that of RV variations and there were no correlations between bisectors and RV measurements. However, the data were not sufficient to reach a firm conclusion. We obtained more RV data for four years. The longer time baseline yields a more accurate determination with a revised period of 803 ± 5 days and the planetary origin of RV variations with a minimum planetary companion mass of 21 ± 1 M_Jup. Our current estimate of the stellar parameters for HD 18438 makes it currently the largest star with a planetary companion.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.53.1-53.1
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• 2015

The GMT-Consortium Large Earth Finder(G-CLEF) is one of the first light instruments at the Giant Magellan Telescope. The international consortium consists of five astronomical institutes including the Center for Astrophysics, the Observatories of Carnegie Institute, the University of Catolica in Chile, the University of Chicago, and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, led by CfA. The extremely precise radial velocity capability is one of the principal instrumental feature of G-CLEF. The RV goal is 10 cm/s capable of detecting an Earth-like planet around a Sun-like host star. This high precision wavelength calibration stability requires a set of significantly tight optomechanical tolerances in the mechanical design of the Flexure Control Camera system. KASI is in charge of the Flexure Control Camera and the Calibration Light System for the G-CLEF spectrograph. In this presentation, we introduce the preliminary design and analysis results of the G-CLEF Flexure Control Camera.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.79.2-79.2
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• 2015

The $M_{BH}-{\sigma}$ relation for galaxies is a stand-out illustration of the co-evolution of galaxies and their central supermassive black holes (SMBHs); however, how this co-evolution occurs and whether this relation holds for SMBHs of the early universe is still a matter of debate. In order to study this at higher redshifts, quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) are the best targets, due to their large sample size and effective $M_{BH}$ estimation. Nevertheless, it is difficult to examine properties of their host galaxies, simply due to the sheer brightness of the QSO itself. Here, we discuss a distinctive method in studying these QSO host galaxies, via gravitational lensing (GL). GL offers a unique approach in determining the mass of the lens object, in this case the host galaxy. QSOs from the SDSS quasar catalog were searched in the Hubble Space Telescope archives, and GL features around them were visually inspected. One such candidate is SDSS J1114-00; to increase its robustness as a GL system candidate, it was observed with the Inamori-Magellan Areal Camera & Spectrograph (IMACS) on the Magellan Baade Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory, to check whether the GL features have identical colors, meaning they are likely to originate from the same source. After confirmation of such GL systems, a sufficiently large sample will enable us to examine the $M_{BH}-{\sigma}$ relation at various redshifts, and in turn, investigate the co-evolution of SMBHs and their host galaxies.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.15 no.spc2
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• pp.45-52
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• 2000

Four plasma instruments are currently under development for KAISTSAT-4 (K-4) which is scheduled for launch in 2002. They are the Solid-State Telescope, Electro-Static Analyzer, Langmuir Probe, and the Scientific Magnetometer, that will respectively allow in-situ detection of high energy and low energy components of auroral particles, ionospheric thermal electrons, and magnetic field disturbances. These instruments, together with the Far-ultraviolet IMaging Spectrograph, will provide micro-scale physics of Earth's polar ionosphere with detailed spectral information that has not been previously achieved with other space missions. In this paper, we review the concept of the four space plasma instruments as well as the anticipated results from the instruments.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.87.2-87.2
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• 2013

We studied a fine-scale half ring-like structure around a pore seen from the high spectral and the high spatial resolution data. Our observations were carried out using the Fast Imaging Solar Spectrograph (FISS) and the InfraRed Imaging Magnetograph (IRIM) installed at the 1.6 meter New Solar Telescope of Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) on 2012 July 19. During the observations, we found a fine-scale half ring-like structure located very close to a pore (~0.4 arcsec apart from the pore). It was seen in the far wing images of the $H{\alpha}$ and Ca II $8542{\AA}$ lines, but it was not seen in the line center images of two lines. The length of the structure is about 4200 km and the width is about 350 km. We determined its line-of-sight velocity using the Doppler shift of the centroid of the Ti II line ($6559.6{\AA}$, close to the $H{\alpha}$ line) and determined horizontal velocity using the NAVE method. we also investigated the magnetic configurations using the Stokes I, Q, U, and V maps of the IRIM. As a results, we found that it has a high blue-shift velocity (~2km) faster than the photospheric features and has a strong horizontal component of the magnetic field. Based on our findings, we suggest that it is associated with small flux emergence, which occurs very close to the pore. Even though it is very small structure, this kind of magnetic configuration can be in chare of the upper chromosphere heating, especially above the pore.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.36-36
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• 2013

Globular clusters (GCs) are among the oldest stellar objects in the universe and provide valuable constraints on many aspects of galaxy evolution. GC systems typically exhibit bimodal color distributions the phenomenon of which has been a major topic in the area of GC research. GC color bimodality established a paradigm where scenarios to explain its origin require two GC groups with different formation origins. The GC division, asserted mainly by photometric color bimodality so far, has been viewed as the presence of two distinct metallicity subgroups within individual galaxies. In this study, we make use of spectroscopy of GC systems associated with two giant galaxies, M31 (the Andromeda) and M87 (NGC 4486), to investigate the GC bimodality and the underlying metallicity distributions. Recent spectroscopy on the globular cluster (GC) system of M31 with unprecedented precision witnessed a clear bimodality in absorption-line index distributions of old GCs. Given that spectroscopy is a more detailed probe into stellar population than photometry; the discovery of index bimodality may point to the very existence of dual GC populations. However, here we show that the observed spectroscopic dichotomy of M31 GCs emerges due to the nonlinear nature of metallicity-to-index conversion and thus one does not necessarily have to invoke two separate GC subsystems. We present spectra of 130 old globular clusters (GCs) associated with the Virgo giant elliptical galaxy M87, obtained using the Multi-Object Spectrography (MOS) mode of Faint Object Camera and Spectrograph (FOCAS) on the Subaru telescope. M87 GCs with reliable metallicity measurements exhibit significant inflection along the color-metallicity relations, through which observed color bimodality is reproduced from a broad, unimodal metallicity distribution. Our findings lend further support to this new interpretation of the GC color bimodality, which could change much of the current thought on the formation of GC systems and their host galaxies.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.281-285
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• 2017

We present a summary of our spectroscopic redshift catalogue of 404 sources in the AKARI Deep Field South (ADF-S). We have used the AAOmega spectrograph to target mid-infrared and far-infrared sources selected primarily from AKARI observations in this field for which we were able to obtain optical counterparts. Our sources with identified redshifts include 316 with $H{\alpha}$ detections at $z{\leq}0.345$ and 15 sources at z > 1 with MgII or $Ly{\alpha}$ emission lines. About 13% of our $z{\leq}0.345$ sources are dominated by active galactic nuclei (AGN) emission, although many show emission from both star formation and AGNs. The median Balmer decrement is 5.9. Ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) were found only in the higher-redshift sources. Optical and near infrared data will be available shortly, enabling calibration of the line luminosities and spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting for these sources.