• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.355-358
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• 2015

We have conducted a near-infrared monitoring campaign at the UK InfraRed Telescope (UKIRT), of the Local Group galaxy M33. The main aim was to identify stars in the very final stage of their evolution, and for which the luminosity is more directly related to the birth mass than the more numerous less-evolved giant stars that continue to increase in luminosity. The pulsating giant stars (AGB and red supergiants) are identified and their distributions are used to derive the star formation rate as a function of age. These stars are also important dust factories; we measure their dust production rates from a combination of our data with Spitzer Space Telescope mid-IR photometry. The mass-loss rates are seen to increase with increasing strength of pulsation and with increasing bolometric luminosity. Low-mass stars lose most of their mass through stellar winds, but even super-AGB stars and red superginats lose ~40% of their mass via a dusty stellar wind. We construct a 2-D map of the mass-return rate, showing a radial decline but also local enhancements due to agglomerations of massive stars. By comparing the current star formation rate with total mass input to the ISM, we conclude that the star formation in the central regions of M33 can only be sustained if gas is accreted from further out in the disc or from circum-galactic regions.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.231-253
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• 1992

A model for the distribution of stars in the disk and the spheroid of our Galaxy is reexamined from an edge-on view of the Galaxy obtained by selecting infrared sources from the IRAS Point Source Catalog. The sources are counted as a function of galactic latitude. longitude and $12{\mu}m$ apparent magnitude. The source counts are reasonably separated into the disk component and the spheroid component contributions and each of the contributions is further interpreted as a convolution of a spatial density distribution and a luminosity function based on the least-square fit method. The spatial density of the disk component has an exponential radial scale length of $h_R{\sim}2.6\;kpc$ and the vertical distribution follows a canonical $sech^2$ law with a scale height $h_z{\sim}240\;pc$. The distribution of the spheroid component can be represented by an oblate spheriod with an axis ratio $k{\sim}0.61$ and a de Vaucouleurs' $r^{1/4}$ law with an effective radius of $R_e{\sim}120\;pc$. The steep density gradient of the spheroid component is consistent with that of late M giants in the central bulge. The luminosity functions of the disk and the spheroid component stars resemble respectively those of the K luminosity function of disk M giants (Garwood and Jones 1986) and the bolometric luminosity function of M giants in bulge fields (Frogel et al, 1990).

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.153-167
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• 1995

More than 22,300 stars in NGC 6752 were measured over the region of 5' < r < 23' in B and V AAT plates. The most of these are main sequence(MS) stars and about 130 blue horizontal branch(BHB) stars were detected. The C-M diagram of all measured stars shows gaps appearing at $V{\approx}15.^{m}2$ and $16.^{m}2$ along the red giant branch(RGB) and their appearance shown by Lee & Cannon(1980) is found to be independent of measured region. The bimodal distribution of BHB stars is confirmed again and a wide gap shown by Lee & Cannon(1980) at $V{\approx}16^m$ is clearly seen for stars in the outer part (8' < r < 13') in the cluster. It is noted, however, that this gap is occupied by about a dozen of BHB staIs located in the inner region (5' < r < 8'). The number ratio of bright BHB star (V < $15^m$) to faint BHB stars (V > $15^m$) decreases with increasing radial distance from the cluster center. Three faintest BHB stars were found, and two stars ($V{\approx}18.^{m}5$) of there are located in the inner region of $r{\approx}6'$ and the other faintest one ($V{\approx}19.^{m}3$) located in the outer part of $r{\approx}13'$. Also a bluest star of (B - V) $\approx$ -0.5 at $V{\approx}17.^{m}2$ is found but it is located at the outer part of $r{\approx}13'$ in NE region. Therefore, the membership of the faintest BHB star and bluest star is suspected. The luminosity function(LF) and mass function(MF) for NGC 6752 were derived for MS stars. The LF for stars of $M_v\;<\;6^m$ in the outer part of r > 8' shows a consistency with that derived by Penny & Dickens(1986).

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.131-141
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• 2002

We present Near-IR photometry of the Arches cluster, a young and massive stellar cluster near the Galactic center. We have analyzed the high resolution (FWHM $\~$ 0.2") Hand K' band images in the Galactic Center Demonstration Science Data Set, which were obtained with the Gemini/Hokupa's adaptive optics (AO) system. We present the color-magnitude diagram, the luminosity function and the initial mass function (IMF) of the stars in the Arches cluster in comparison with the HST/NICMOS data. The IMF slope for the range of 1.0 < log (M/M$\bigodot$) < 2.1 is estimated to be ${\Gamma} = -0.79 {\pm} 0.16$, in good agreements with the earlier result based on the HST/NICMOS data [Figer et al. 1999, ApJ, 525, 750]. These results strengthen the evidence that the IMF of the bright. stars close to the Galactic center is much flatter than that for the solar neighborhood. This is also consistent with a recent finding that the IMFs of the bright stars in young clusters in M33 get flatter as the galactocentric distance decreases [Lee et al. 2001, astro-ph 0109258]. It is found that the power of the Gemini/ AO system is comparable, with some limits, to that of the HST/NICMOS.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.137-156
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• 1996

NGC 6716 is an intermediate-age open cluster in Sagittarius. In this paper, we present the new UBV CCD photometry of the stars in the cluster, which is deeper than previous ones. From the color-color diagram and the color-magnitude diagram, we derived a reddening $E_{B- V} = 0.17\pm0.03$ and a distance modulus of the cluster, $(V - Mv)_o = 9.2\pm0.1$. An age of the cluster is estimated as $8\pm10^7 yrs$ from the latest isochrone. Luminosity function and mass function of the cluster are derived. The gradient of the mass function of bright stars is a bit steep, $\Gamma = -1.85\pm0.05$, and there is no distinct bump and dip in the mass function.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.56.2-56.2
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• 2012

We present a study of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) contribution to the total Ks band luminosity of star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) as a function of age. AGB stars, a representative intermediate-age population, are a strong source of NIR to MIR emission so that they are a critical component for understanding the near-to-mid infrared observation of galaxies. Current calibration of IR emission in evolutionary population synthesis (EPS) models for galaxies is mainly based on a small number of LMC star clusters. However, each LMC star cluster with intermediate age contains only a few AGB stars so that it suffers from a stochastic effect. Therefore a large number of them are needed for solid calibration of the EPS models. We study physical properties of a large number of LMC star clusters to estimate the Ks band luminosity fraction of AGB stars in star clusters as a function of age. We discuss the stochastic effect in calibrating models, and the importance of this calibration for studying the evolution of not only nearby galaxies but also of high-z galaxies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.20
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• pp.29.2-30
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• 1995

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.42-42
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• 1999

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.67-74
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• 1998

The VI CCD photometry is made for stars in the globular cluster M22 down to $V\approx19^m,\;I\approx18^m$. In the color-magnitude diagram (CMD), red giant branch (RGB), asymtotic giant branch (AGB) and blue horizontal branch (BHB) are well defined. The luminosity functions (LF) of RGB, AGB and BHB stars are derived, discussing deficient gaps and bumps in the CMD. The anomalously wide RGB seen in the BV photometric system is found to disappear in the VI photometric system.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.19-26
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• 1998

The wide field $(\~20'\times20')$ CCD photometry has been performed for more than 4,000 stars over a whole region of NGC 362 which is located inside the SMC halo. The Color-Magnitude diagram (CMD) and luminosit function (LF) for red giant branch (RGB) stars are presented, discussing a distinct bump along the RGB and some blue stars appearing in the blue horizontal branch (BHB) and above BHB. The anomalous globular cluster NGC 362 with highly populated red horizontal branch (RHB) stars is compared with the another anomalous globular cluster NGC 288 with highly populated BHB stars. A metal-rich, young blue component and metal-'poor, old red component of the SMC halo stars are examined.