• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.38.2-38.2
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• 2019

S0 galaxies are mostly known to be formed in dense environments from spiral progenitors. Recently, however, a new formation scenario has been suggested that field S0s can be formed from elliptical progenitors. The Sombrero galaxy (M104, NGC 4594) is a massive disk galaxy located in the field environment, and its morphological type has been controversial from Sa to E. Thus, it is an ideal target to test the new scenario. We trace the giant halo of M104 with globular clusters to test this scenario. From the wide images obtained with CFHT/MegaCam, we find a large number of globular clusters in this galaxy. We also confirm their membership by measuring the radial velocities from the spectra obtained with MMT/Hectospec. The color distribution of these globular clusters is bimodal, and blue (metal-poor) globular clusters are more spatially widely spread than red (metal-rich) globular clusters. This indicates that M104 hosts a giant metal-poor halo as well as an inner metal-rich halo. Combining this result with the fact that M104 is unusually massive and brighter than other spiral galaxies, we infer that M104 was indeed a massive elliptical galaxy that had formed a metal-rich halo by gas-rich mergers and a metal-poor halo by gas-poor mergers. In addition, we find young star clusters around the disk of M104, which shows that the disk formed after the spheroidal halos had formed. In conclusion, we suggest that M104 was originally a massive elliptical galaxy and was transformed to a lenticular galaxy by acquiring its disk later.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.76.2-76.2
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• 2014

The Arches cluster is one of the compact, young, massive star clusters near the center of our galaxy. Since it is located only ~30 pc away in projection from the galactic center (GC), the cluster is an excellent target for studying the effects of star forming environment on, for example, the initial mass function under the extreme condition of GC. To estimate the initial condition of the Arches cluster, we compare our calculation results from the anisotropic Fokker-Planck method with the most recent observational data sets for the surface density and velocity dispersion profiles and the present-day mass function.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.43.1-43.1
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• 2012

We have performed our first cosmological hydrodynamic simulation using the recently developed SPH+GOPTM code that includes radiative cooling/heating, star formation, and supernova feedback. Here we present preliminary results from the simulation $3.4{\times}10^4M_{\odot}$, thus sub-galactic structures, such as satellite galaxies and globular clusters around a host galaxy, can be resolved with more than hundred particles. We follow formation and evolution of the sub-galactic structures in view of their star formation history, merging/accretion rate, and origins.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.17-26
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• 2009

We estimate the enclosed mass profile in the central 10 pc of the Milky Way by analyzing the infrared photometry and the velocity observations of dynamically relaxed stellar population in the Galactic center. HST/NICMOS and Gemini Adaptive Optics images in the archive are used to obtain the number density profile, and proper motion and radial velocity data were compiled from the literature to find the velocity dispersion profile assuming a spherical symmetry and velocity isotropy. From these data, we calculate the the enclosed mass and density profiles in the central 10 pc of the Galaxy using the Jeans equation. Our improved estimates can better describe the exact evolution of the molecular clouds and star clusters falling down to the Galactic center, and constrain the star formation history of the inner part of the Galaxy.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.78.2-78.2
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• 2011

We utilize Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7 spectroscopy of ~600 emission line galaxies (ELGs) in the Virgo and Ursa Major clusters to investigate their chemical properties depending on the environments. We derived chemical abundances of galaxies using either a direct estimation of the electron temperature or empirical calibrations. We also estimated star formation rates (SFRs) using H alpha and GALEX ultraviolet (UV) luminosities. We see no significant difference of UV colors and SFRs of ELGs between the Virgo and Ursa Major, indicating weak dependence of their star formation activity on global cluster environment. We also discuss the segregation of gas-phase element abundances in cluster environment.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1969

On the instantaneous tidal relaxation approximation, formulae are derived for the ellipticities and virial theorem of a slightly flattened homogeneous rotating cluster (the largest axis of the cluster is directed towards the Galactic center), in terms of the Galactic tidal force and the characteristic intrinsic plus orbital angular velocity. The expression for a purely tidally-determined ellipticity is identical to that for an incompressible fluid body of uniform density. Orbital motion generally contributes significantly to the shape of the cluster. The virial theorem is identical to that for an isolated cluster except that the gravitational potential energy is multiplied by (1-${\chi}$), where ${\chi}$ is a positive tidal correction term. To obtain the actual mass of a cluster, the virial theorem mass based on an isolated cluster should be multiplied by the factor 1/(1-${\chi}$). The formulae are applied to open star clusters, the globular cluster ${\omega}$ Centauri, and dwarf elliptical galaxies in the Local Group.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.241-244
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• 2005

We have analysed near-infrared JHKL observations of the members of the $\approx$9 Myr-old $\eta$ Chamaeleontis cluster. Using (J - H)/(K - L) and (H - K)/(K - L) IR colour-colour diagrams for the brightest 15 members of the cluster, we find the fraction of stellar systems with near-IR excess emission was 0.60 $\pm$ 0.13 (2$\sigma$). For the CTT and WTT star population, we also find a strong correlation between the IR excess and Ha emission which is also known as an accretion indicator. The (K - L) excess of these stars appears to indicate a wide range of star-disk activity; from a CTT star with high levels of accretion, to CTT - WTT transitional objects with evidence for some on-going accretion, and WTT stars with weak or absent IR excesses. Among the brightest 15 members, four stars (RECX 5, 9, 11 and ECHA J0843.3-7905) with IR excesses ${\Delta}$(K - L) > 0.4 mag and strong or variable optical emission were identified as likely experiencing on-going mass accretion from their circumstellar disks which we confirmed their accretion disks from the optical high-resolution echelle spectroscopic study. The result-ing accretion fraction of 0.27 $\pm$ 0.13 (2$\sigma$) suggests that the accretion phase, in addition to the disks themselves, can endure for at least ${\~}$10 Myr.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.121-130
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• 2014

Essential ideas, successes, and difficulties of Areal Density Analysis (ADA) for color-magnitude diagrams (CMD's) of resolved stellar populations are examined, with explanation of various algorithms and strategies for optimal performance. A CMD-generation program computes theoretical datasets with simulated observational error and a solution program inverts the problem by the method of Differential Corrections (DC) so as to compute parameter values from observed magnitudes and colors, with standard error estimates and correlation coefficients. ADA promises not only impersonal results, but also significant saving of labor, especially where a given dataset is analyzed with several evolution models. Observational errors and multiple star systems, along with various single star characteristics and phenomena, are modeled directly via the Functional Statistics Algorithm (FSA). Unlike Monte Carlo, FSA is not dependent on a random number generator. Discussions include difficulties and overall requirements, such as need for fast evolutionary computation and realization of goals within machine memory limits. Degradation of results due to influence of pixelization on derivatives, Initial Mass Function (IMF) quantization, IMF steepness, low Areal Densities ($\mathcal{A}$), and large variation in $\mathcal{A}$ are reduced or eliminated through a variety of schemes that are explained sufficiently for general application. The Levenberg-Marquardt and MMS algorithms for improvement of solution convergence are contained within the DC program. An example of convergence, which typically is very good, is shown in tabular form. A number of theoretical and practical solution issues are discussed, as are prospects for further development.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.92.2-92.2
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• 2014

NGC 6822 is a dwarf irregular galaxy in the Local Group. Unlike clouds in the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Small Magellanic Cloud, molecular clouds in NGC 6822 are not influenced by the Galactic tidal force. Therefore the star forming processes are only dictated by local conditions. Hubble V is the brightest of the several bright H II region complexes in NGC 6822. The core of Hubble V, surrounded by a molecular cloud complex, contains compact clusters of bright blue stars. During the commissioning runs of the new high-resolution near-infrared spectrometer, IGRINS (Immersion GRating near-INfrared Spectrometer), we observed Hubble V and detected many emission lines from the H II regions and from the photodissociation region at the interface between the ionized gas and the molecular cloud. In this presentation, we report preliminary results of the IGRINS observations. We discuss the implications of the observed lines ratios and kinematics for our understanding of the evolution of star forming molecular clouds.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.61.2-61.2
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• 2016

Nuclear rings at centers of barred galaxies exhibit strong star formation activities. They are thought to undergo gravitational instability when sufficiently massive. We approximate them as rigidly-rotating isothermal objects and investigate their gravitational instability. Using a self-consistent eld method, we first construct their equilibrium sequences specified by two parameters: ${\alpha}$ corresponding to the thermal energy relative to gravitational potential energy, and $R_B$ measuring the ellipticity or ring thickness. The density distributions in the meridional plane are steeper for smaller ${\alpha}$, and well approximated by those of infinite cylinders for slender rings. We also calculate the dispersion relations of nonaxisymmetric modes in rigidly-rotating slender rings with angular frequency ${\Omega}$ and central density ${\rho}_c$. Rings with smaller are found more unstable with a larger unstable range of the azimuthal mode number. The instability is completely suppressed by rotation when ${\Omega}$ exceeds the critical value. The critical angular frequency is found to be almost constant at $0.7(G{\rho}_c)^{1/2}$ for ${\alpha}$ > 0.01 and increases rapidly for smaller ${\alpha}$. We apply our results to a sample of observed star-forming rings and confirm that rings without a noticeable azimuthal age gradient of young star clusters are indeed gravitationally unstable.