• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.115-123
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• 2011

To perform imaging observations of optically red objects such as high redshift quasars and brown dwarfs, the Center for the Exploration of the Origin of the Universe (CEOU) recently developed an optical CCD camera, Camera for QUasars in EArly uNiverse (CQUEAN), which is sensitive at 0.7-1.1 ${\mu}m$. To enable observations with long exposures, we develop an auto-guiding system for CQUEAN. This system consists of an off-axis mirror, a baffle, a CCD camera, a motor and a differential decelerator. To increase the number of available guiding stars, we design a rotating mechanism for the off-axis guiding camera. The guiding field can be scanned along the 10 arcmin ring offset from the optical axis of the telescope. Combined with the auto-guiding software of the McDonald Observatory, we confirm that a stable image can be obtained with an exposure time as long as 1200 seconds.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.333-341
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• 2015

A search for hot and bright white dwarfs (WDs) in the Milky Way globular clusters M13 (NGC 6205) and M22 (NGC 6656) is carried out using the deep and homogeneous V I photometric catalog of Anderson et al. and and Sarajedini et al., based on data taken with the ACS/WFC aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). V versus V − I color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of M13 and M22 are constructed and numerous spurious detections are rejected according to their photometric quality parameters qfit(V ) and qfit(I). In the case of M13, further radial restriction is applied to reject central stars with higher photometric errors due to central crowding. From each resultant V versus V −I CMD, sixteen and thirteen WD candidates are identified in M13 and M22, respectively. They are identified as stellar objects in the accompanying ACS/WFC images and are found to be randomly distributed across the central regions of M13 and M22. Their positions in the CMDs are in the bright part of the DA WD cooling sequences indicating that they are true WDs. In order to confirm their nature, follow-up spectroscopic observations are needed.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.219-221
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• 2015

We present our recent observations of SDSS J102102.25+174439.9, a new eclipsing white dwarf - main sequence WDMS binary with an orbital period of 0.14 days. This system belongs to the post common-envelope binary group as shown by the spectrum from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We obtained our data using the ULTRASPEC instrument installed on the 2.4-m telescope at the Thai National Observatory (TNO). Our multi-band observations reveal an unusual and persistent drop in brightness after the primary eclipse. These dips, which appear to show variations in amplitude, also have a complex shape that changes within days. Dips in WDMS systems have been observed on only one other occasion, in the light curve of QS Vir prior to the eclipse of the white dwarf. The dips in SDSS J1021+1744 are unique because they are present at different wavelengths and they occur approximately at similar phases. Hosting a DA white dwarf and an M4 companion star, this system is known to be the only WDMS to show these kind of dips in its light curve. It is possible that these dips are caused by ejected materials from an active companion star, such as in QS Vir. The light curve in the g' filter exhibits deep and narrow features, implying that the material which passes in front of the white dwarf in SDSS J1021 must be dense and small in size. Furthermore, we try to constrain the stellar and orbital parameters of SDSS J1021+1744 using the Binary Maker 3 software. We use g' and r' data for our light curve analysis to have a better approximation for the red dwarf star.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.217-218
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• 2015

In this work, we present the result of our follow-up observations of SDSS J092741.73+332959.1 and SDSS J130733.49+215636.7 using the 2.35 m Thai National Telescope and ULTRASPEC instrument. Both systems are listed among the recently found white dwarf main sequence binaries from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. SDSS J092741.73+332959.1 is a new PCEB with a period of 2.3 days, the longest orbital period known to date for white dwarf binaries. SDSS J130733.49+215636.7 is confirmed to be an eclipsing system with a period of 0.21 days from the Catalina Survey's light curve, however the parameters for the white dwarf are still uncertain. Our goal is to determine precise parameters for both systems using the Binary Maker 3 software. The observation for SDSS J0927+3329 was done on 9 January 2014 in the SDSS r' filter while the data for SDSS J1307+2156 were taken in the z' filter on 27 April 2014. Our models show that the red dwarf companions in both systems are well constrained inside their Roche Lobes. We find that the binary M2/M1 ratio in SDSS J0927+3329 is close to 0.5, with white dwarf and M-dwarf temperatures of 12000 K and 3300 K, respectively. Our preliminary result for SDSS J1307+2156 show that this system has an extreme mass ratio of 0.3. The white dwarf in this system has a temperature of 7500 K and the companion star has an effective temperature of 3150 K.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.49 no.11
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• pp.953-960
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• 2021

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute has been verifying the multipurpose laser tracking system with three functions of satellite laser tracking, adaptive optics and space debris laser tracking for not only scientific research but also national space missions. The system employs an optical telescope consisting of a 100 cm primary mirror and an altazimuth mount for fast and precise tracking. The precise pointing and tracking capability in a tracking mount is considered as one of important performance metrics in the fields of automatic tracking and precise application research. So it is required to analyze a mount model for investigating pointing error factors and compensating pointing error. In this study, we investigated various factors causing static pointing errors of tracking mount and analyzed the pointing accuracy of the tracking mount at Geochang observatory by estimating mount parameters based on the least square method.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.50.3-51
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• 2021

The progenitor of Type Ia supernovae is largely expected as a close binary system of a carbon/oxygen white dwarf (WD) primary and its secondary non-degenerate (single degenerate; SD) or degenerate companion (double degenerate; DD). Here we present a high-cadence monitoring observation of SN 2021hpr in a spiral galaxy, NGC 3147. SN 2021hpr shows typical characteristics as a normal type Ia supernova from its photometric (Δm₁₅(B)=1.01±0.03, dust free M_B,max=-19.45±0.02) and spectroscopic data. To investigate its progenitor system, we fit the early part of BVRI-band light curve simultaneously with a combined version of ejecta-companion and simple power-law model. As a result, we found a significant feature of an early excess possibly from a 7.63±0.52R_⊙-sized companion at the optimal viewing angle while the fit is not successful at the common viewing angle. No possible red sources brighter than F555W=-7.01 AB mag is detected at the SN location in Hubble Space Telescope (HST) pre-explosion images, excluding massive stars with initial mass of >16M_⊙ as companions. We suggest the progenitor system of SN 2021hpr can be a fairly large companion such as a main sequence, a low mass subgiant, and a helium giant star. In addition, a possibility of the ejecta-Disk Originated Matter (DOM) interaction for the DD scenario considering linearly-rising early flux still remains.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.49-59
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• 2012

KASI (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) has developed an SLR (Satellite Laser Ranging) system since 2008. The name of the development program is ARGO (Accurate Ranging system for Geodetic Observation). ARGO has a wide range of applications in the satellite precise orbit determination and space geodesy research using SLR with mm-level accuracy. ARGO-M (Mobile, bistatic 10 cm transmitting/40 cm receiving telescopes) and ARGO-F (Fixed stationary, about 1 m transmitting/receiving integrated telescope) SLR systems development will be completed by 2014. In 2011, ARGO-M system integration was completed. At present ARGO-M is in the course of system calibration, functionality, and performance tests. It consists of six subsystems, OPS (Optics System), TMS (Tracking Mount System), OES (Opto-Electronic System), CDS (Container-Dome System), LAS (Laser System) and AOS (ARGO Operation System). In this paper, ARGO-M system structure and integration status are introduced and described.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.27.1-27.1
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• 2008

KASI (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute) is developing a compact wide-field survey space telescope system, MIRIS (The Multi-purpose IR Imaging System) to be launched in 2010 as the main payload of the Korea Science and Technology Satellite 3. Through recent System Design Review (SDR) and Preliminary Design Review (PDR), most of the system design concept was reviewed and confirmed. The near IR imaging system adopted short F/2 optics for wide field low resolution observation at wavelength band 0.9~2.0 um minimizing the effect of attitude control system. The mechanical system is composed of a cover, baffle, optics, and detector system using a $256\times256$ Teledyne PICNIC FPA providing a $3.67\times3.67$ degree field of view with a pixel scale of 51.6 arcsec. We designed a support system to minimize heat transfer with Muti-Layer Insulation. The electronics of the MIRIS system is composed of 7 boards including DSP, control, SCIF. Particular attention is being paid to develop mission operation scenario for space observation to minimize IR background radiation from the Earth and Sun. The scientific purpose of MIRIS is to survey the Galactic plane in the emission line of Pa$\alpha$ ($1.88{\mu}m$) and to detect the cosmic infrared background (CIB) radiation. The CIB is being suspected to be originated from the first generation stars of the Universe and we will test this hypothesis by comparing the fluctuations in I (0.9~1.2 um) and H (1.2~2.0 um) bands to search the red shifted Lyman cutoff signature.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.47-52
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• 2008

We have performed the flat-fielding correction for the $H{\alpha}$ full-disk monitoring system of KASI (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute), which is installed in the Solar Flare Telescope (SOFT) at the top of Bohyun Mountain. For this, we used a new method developed by Chae (2004), to determine the flat pattern from a set of relatively shifted images. Using this method, we successfully obtained the flat pattern for $H{\alpha}$ full-disk observations and compared our result with the image observed in Catania Astrophysical Observatory. The method that we used in this study seems to be quite powerful to obtain the flat image for solar observations. In near future, we will apply this method for the flat-fielding correction of all solar imaging instruments in KASI.

• 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.