• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.161-164
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• 2012

We performed a spectroscopic survey for cometary volatiles with the Infrared Camera onboard the Japanese infrared satellite AKARI. The observations were carried out in the near-infrared wavelength range in the period from 2008 June to 2010 January. In this paper, we summarize the observations and results of the AKARI survey for the mixing ratios of major volatiles in comets. We derived the $2.5-5{\mu}m$ spectra of 18 comets including both Oort cloud comets and Jupiter-family comets. Prominent emission bands in the observed spectra are the fundamental vibrational bands of water ($H_2O$) at $2.7{\mu}m$ and carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) at $4.3{\mu}m$. The fundamental vibrational band of carbon monoxide (CO) at $4.7{\mu}m$ and the broad emission feature probably related to C-H bearing molecules can also be recognized around the $3.4-3.5{\mu}m$ region in some comets. We detect $CO_2$ in 17 out of 18 comets, and derived gas production rate ratios of $CO_2$ with respect to $H_2O$ in 17 comets. We detect a reliable CO emission band only in three of the comets. Our data set provides the largest homogeneous database of $CO_2/H_2O$ ratios in comets obtained so far.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.151-168
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• 2007

We have analyzed the comet records in the Korean history books: Samguksagi, Goryeosa, and Joseonwangjosillok. For a comparison, the Chinese and Japanese comet records collected by Kronk (1999) have also been analyzed. Power spectrum of the time series of the comet records is used to find periodic comets. Statistically significant periodicities in the power spectrum are detected at the periods of 38-40 years, about 76 years, and 300-400 years for all Korean, Chinese, and Japanese comet records. We have also calculated the past orbits of some comets that have been recently observed, to check whether or not they were recorded in the history books. We use a multistep method to numerically integrate the comet's orbital motion backward in time to 51 B.C. The gravitational force due to the Sun and the nine planets, non-gravitational force, and the relativistic effects have been considered. Comparison of comet's perihelion passage time and the position on the sky with the historical records shows that the comet Halley were recorded at every passage in both Goryeo and Joseon periods. The orbital motion of the comet Pons-Brooks has also been compared with the Korean records. For the comet Tempel-Tuttle, Swift-Tuttle, and Ikeya-Zhang, we have compared our calculation of the orbital motions with those of the previous studies.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.55-57
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• 2017

Presently, the number of known asteroids is more than 710,000. Knowledge of size and albedo is essential in many aspects of asteroid research, such as the chemical composition and mineralogy, the size-frequency distribution of dynamical families, and the relationship between small bodies in the outer solar system or comets. Recently, based on the infrared all-sky survey data obtained by IRAS, AKARI, and WISE, the large asteroid catalogs containing size and albedo data have been constructed. In this paper, we discuss the compositional distribution in the main belt regions based on the compiled data on size, albedo, and separately obtained taxonomic type information.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.71-76
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• 2008

Study of terrestrial impact craters is important not only in the field of the solar system formation and evolution but also of the Galactic astronomy. The terrestrial impact cratering record recently has been examined, providing short- and intermediate-term periodicities, such as, ${\sim}26$ Myrs, ${\sim}37$ Myrs. The existence of such a periodicity has an implication in the Galactic dynamics, since the terrestrial impact cratering is usually interpreted as a result of the environmental variation during solar orbiting in the Galactic plane. The aim of this paper is to search for a long-term periodicity with a novel method since no attempt has been made so far in searching a long-term periodicity in this research field in spite of its great importance. We apply the cepstrum analysis method to the terrestrial impact cratering record for the first time. As a result of the analysis we have found noticeable peaks in the Fourier power spectrum appear ing at periods of ${\sim}300$ Myrs and ${\sim}100$ Myrs, which seem in a simple resonance with the revolution period of the Sun around the Galactic center. Finally we briefly discuss its implications and suggest theoretical study be pursued to explain such a long-term periodicity.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.199-208
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• 2006

The terrestrial impact cratering record recently has been examined in the time domain by Chang & Moon (2005). It was found that the ${\sim}26$ Myr periodicity in the impact cratering rate exists over the last ${\sim}250$ Myrs. Such a periodicity can be found regardless of the lower limit of the diameter up to D ${\sim}35km$. It immediately called pros and cons. The aim of this paper is two-fold: (1) to test if reported periodicities can be obtained with an independent method, (2) to see, as attempted earlier, if the phase is modulated. To achieve these goals we employ the time/frequency analysis and for the first time apply this method to the terrestrial impact cratering records. We have confirmed that without exceptions noticeable peaks appear around ${\sim}25$ Myr, corresponding to a frequency of ${\sim}0.04(Myr)^{-1}$. We also find periodicities in the data base including small impact craters, which are longer. Though the time/frequency analysis allows us to observe directly phase variations, we cannot find any indications of such changes. Instead, modes display slow variations of power in time. The time/frequency analysis shows a nonstationary behavior of the modes. The power can grow from just above the noise level and then decrease back to its initial level in a time of order of 10 Myrs.