• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.191-201
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• 1994

We propose to use the entropy of power spectra defined in the frequency domain for the deconvolution of extended images. Spatial correlations requisite for extended sources may be insured by increasing the role of power entropy because the power is just a representation of spatial correlations in the frequency domain. We have derived a semi-analytical solution which is found to severely reduce computing time compared with other iteration schemes. Even though the solution is very similar to the well-known Wiener filter, the regularizingng term in the new expression is so insensitive to the noise characteristics as to assure a stable solution. Applications have been made to the IRAS $60{\mu}m\;and\;100{\mu}m$ images of the dark cloud B34 and the optical CCD image of a solar active region containing a circular sunspot and a small pore.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.55-66
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• 2018

The solar magnetic field plays a central role in the field of solar research, both theoretically and practically. Sunspots are an important observational constraint since they are considered a discernable tracer of emerged magnetic flux tubes, providing the longest running records of solar magnetic activity. In this presentation, we first review the statistical properties of the latitudinal distribution of sunspots and discuss their implications. The phase difference between paired wings of the butterfly diagram has been revealed. Sunspots seem to emerge with the exponential distribution on top of slowly varying trends by periods of ~11 years, which is considered multiplicative rather than additive. We also present a concept for the center-of-latitude (COL) and its use. With this, one may sort out a traditional butterfly diagram and find new features. It is found that the centroid of the COL does not migrate monotonically toward the equator, appearing to form an 'active latitude'. Furthermore, distributions of the COL as a function of latitude depend on solar activity and the solar North-South asymmetry. We believe that these findings serve as crucial diagnostic tools for any potential model of the solar dynamo. Finally, we find that as the Sun modulates the amount of observed galactic cosmic ray influx, the solar North-South asymmetry seems to contribute to the relationship between the solar variability and terrestrial climate change.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.105-109
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• 2017

The well-known solar cycle controls almost the entire appearance of the solar photosphere. We therefore presume that the continuous emission of visible light from the solar surface follows the solar cyclic variation. In this study, we examine the solar cyclic variation of photospheric brightness in the visible range using solar images taken by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)/Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI). The photospheric brightness in the visible range is quantified via the relative intensity acquired from in the raw solar images. In contrast to total solar irradiance, the relative intensity is out of phase with the solar cycle. During the solar minimum of solar cycles 23-24, the relative intensity shows enhanced heliolatitudinal asymmetry due to a positive asymmetry of the sunspot number. This result can be explained by the strength of the solar magnetic field that controls the strength of convection, implying that the emission in the visible range is controlled by the strength of convection. This agrees with the photospheric brightness increasing during a period of long spotless days.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.103-108
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• 2011

The latitudinal variation of sunspots appearing during the period from 1874 to 2009 has been studied in terms of centerof-latitude (COL). The butterfly diagram has been used to study the evolution of the magnetic field and the dynamics at the bottom of the solar convection zone. Short-term periodicities have been of particular interest, in that they are somehow related to the structure and dynamics of the solar interior. We thus have focused our investigation on shortterm periodicities. We first calculated COL by averaging the latitude of sunspots with the weight function in area. Then, we analyzed the time series of COL using the wavelet transform technique. We found that a periodicity of ~5 years is the most dominant feature in the time series of COL, with the exception of the ~11 year solar cycle itself. This periodicity can be easily understood by considering small humps between the minima in the area-weighted butterfly diagram. However, we find that periodicities of ~1.3 (0.064), ~1.5 (0.056), or ~1.8 (0.046) years ($\frac{1}{month}$), month ), which have been previously suggested as evidence of links between the changing structure of the sunspot zone and the tachocline rotation rate oscillations, are insignificant and inconsistent. We therefore conclude that the only existing short-term periodicity is of ~5 years, and that periodicities of ~1.3, ~1.5, or ~1.8 years are likely to be artifacts due to random noise of small sunspots.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.90.2-90.2
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• 2011

At Kyoto University, a continuous solar full-disk observation in CaII K line had been done during 44 years of 1926 - 1969. The observation was done with a Askania spectroheliograph on daily base. The images were taken on photographic plates. We started a project to archive these image data into a digital database which will be open to the public for scientific researches. One of the scientific usage of the database is to study the long term variation of the solar chromospheres. Since the area of CaII K plage area is a measure of solar chromospheric heating, we can do comparative study of the sunspot cycle and the chromospheric heating cycle of the sun. Another interesting field of scientific utilization of the database is the long term variation of the heating of terrestrial upper atmosphere. As was shown by Yokoyama, Masuda and Sato (2005), the area of the CaII K plage is a good proxy measure of solar EUV irradiation onto the upper atmosphere of the earth. Thus the completion of our database will serve to supply a basic and long-span data for upper atmospheric heating issues by the cooperative study with the Inter-university Upper atmosphere Global Observation NETwork (IUGONET) developed in Japan.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.29-29
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• 2014

A fundamental problem in space physics is to explain the origin of energetic charged particles in space close to the Earth and the significant temporal variations of their flux. The particles are primarily electrons and protons although energetic heavy ions such as O+ are sometimes non-negligible. By "energetic" we mean a rather broad energy range of particles from a few tens of keV to well above MeV. Drastic variations of the particle fluxes (by >3 orders of magnitude) occur over both a short time scale like a few minutes and a long time scale like the 11-year sunspot cycle. In this talk I will focus on relativistic energy electrons (~MeV) trapped within the Earth's magnetosphere. They are a primary element of the space weather since they can cause damage to satellites, so often called "killer electrons". Considering that the source particles in both the solar wind and the ionosphere are relatively cold (~eV), the quasi-permanent existence of these very energetic particles close to the Earth has been a surprise to space physicists for decades. Complex electromagnetic processes such as wave-particle interactions within the magnetosphere are believed to play a major role in generating these killer electrons. While detailed physics remains an active research area, for this lecture I will introduce a synthesized picture of how solar activities are related to wave-particle interaction physics inside the magnetosphere. This can be applied to other astrophysical systems.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.31.4-32
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• 2016

Observing the solar atmosphere with ground-based telescopes in the near-infrared has a number of advantages when compared to classical measurements in visible wavelengths. One of them comes from the magnetic sensitivity of spectral lines, which varies as ${\lambda}_g$, where g is the effective $Land{\acute{e}}$ factor of the transition. This wavelength dependence makes the near-infrared range adequate to study subtle spatial or temporal variations of the magnetic field. Spectral lines, such as the photospheric Fe I $1.5648{\mu}m$ spectral line, with a $Land{\acute{e}}$ factor g=3, have often been used in the past for this type of studies. To study the chromosphere, the Ca II IR triplet and the He I $1.0830{\mu}m$ triplet are the most often observed lines. The latter has the additional advantage that the photospheric Si I $1.0827{\mu}m$ is close enough so that photosphere and chromosphere can be simultaneously recorded with a single detector in a spectrograph. The instrument TIP (Tenerife Infrared Polarimeter) has been continuously operating since 1999 at the 70-cm German VTT of the Observatorio del Teide and has been recently moved to the 1.5-m German GREGOR. During all this time, results have been obtained concerning the nature of the weak photospheric magnetic field of the quiet sun, magneto-acoustic wave propagation, evolution with the cycle of sunspot magnetic fields, photospheric and chromospheric magnetic field in emerging regions, magnetic field in chromospheric structures such as filaments, prominences, flares, and spicules, etc. In this talk, I will review the main results obtained after all these observations and mention the main challenges for the future. With its novel polarization-free design and a complete suite of instruments aimed at simultaneous (imaging and spectroscopic) observations of the solar photosphere and chromosphere, the EST (European Solar Telescope) will represent a major world-wide infrastructure to understand the physical nature of all these phenomena.