• Title/Summary/Keyword: galactic environment

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Quantifying galactic morphological transformations in the cluster environment

  • Cervantes-Sodi, Bernardo;Park, Chang-Bom;Hernandez, X.
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.39.1-39.1
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    • 2010
  • We study the effects of the cluster environment on galactic morphology by defining a dimensionless angular momentum parameter ld, to obtain a quantitative and objective measure of galaxy type. The use of this physical parameter allows us to take the study of morphological transformations in clusters beyond the measurements of merely qualitative parameters, e.g. S/E ratios, to a more physical footing. To this end, we employ an extensive SDSS sample, with galaxies associated with Abell galaxy clusters. The sample contains 93 relaxed Abell clusters and over 34,000 individual galaxies. We find that the median ld value tends to decrease as we approach the cluster center, with different dependences according to the mass of the galaxies and the hosting cluster; low and intermediate mass galaxies showing a strong dependence, while massive galaxies seems to show, at all radii, low ld values. By analysing trends in ld as functions of the nearest galactic neighbour environment, clustercentric radius and velocity dispersion of clusters, we can identify clearly the leading physical processes at work. We find that in massive clusters (s > 700 km/s), the interaction with the cluster central region dominates, whilst in smaller clusters galaxy-galaxy interactions are chiefly responsible for driving galactic morphological transformations.

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Difference in the spatial distribution between $H_2O$ and $CO_2$ ices in M 82 found with AKARI

  • Yamagishi, Mitsuyoshi;Kaneda, Hidehiro;Oyabu, Shinki;Ishihara, Daisuke;Onaka, Takashi;Shimonishi, Takashi;Suzuki, Toyoaki;Minh, Young Chol
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.38 no.2
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    • pp.34.1-34.1
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    • 2013
  • Interstellar ices (e.g., $H_2O$, $CO_2$, and CO ices) are formed on the surface of dust grains in dense molecular clouds. In a near-infrared spectrum, we can observe deep absorption features particularly due to $H_2O$ ice at $3.05{\mu}m$ and $CO_2$ ice at $4.27{\mu}m$. These interstellar ices have many pieces of information on the interstellar environment. Among various ices, $CO_2$ ice is one of the most important ones as a probe of the interstellar environment. That is because $CO_2$ ice is a secondary product unlike $H_2O$ and CO ices which are primarily formed on dust grains. Past studies for $CO_2$ ice in nearby galaxies were performed only for the galactic center in a few galaxies. In order to utilize the information from $CO_2$ ice effectively, it is valuable to perform mapping observations of ices on a galactic scale. With AKARI, we obtain the spatially-resolved near-infrared ($2.5-5.0{\mu}m$) spectra for the central ~1 kpc region of the nearby starburst galaxy M 82. These spectra clearly show the absorption features due to interstellar $H_2O$ and $CO_2$ ices, and we created their column density maps. As a result, we find that the spatial distribution of $H_2O$ ice is significantly different from that of $CO_2$ ice; $H_2O$ ice is widely distributed, while $CO_2$ ice is concentrated near the galactic center. Our result for the first time reveals spatial variations in $CO_2/H_2O$ ice abundance ratio on a galactic scale, suggesting that the ice-forming interstellar environment changes within a galaxy. In this presentation, we discuss the cause of the variations in the ice abundance ratio.

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Radiation Dose Measurement and Model Comparison at the Flight Level (비행고도 상에서의 우주방사선 관측 및 모델 비교)

  • Yi, Wonhyeong;Kim, Jiyoung;Jang, Kun-Il
    • Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics
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    • v.26 no.2
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    • pp.91-97
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    • 2018
  • High-energy charged particles are comprised of galactic cosmic rays and solar energetic particles which are mainly originated from the supernova explosion, active galactic nuclei, and the Sun. These primary charged particles which have sufficient energy to penetrate the Earth's magnetic field collide with the Earth's upper atmosphere, that is $N_2$ and $O_2$, and create secondary particles and ionizing radiation. The ionizing radiation can be measured at commercial flight altitude. So it is recommended to manage radiation dose of aircrew as workers under radiation environment to protect their health and safety. However, it is hard to deploy radiation measurement instrument to commercial aircrafts and monitor radiation dose continuously. So the numerical model calculation is performed to assess radiation exposure at flight altitude. In this paper, we present comparison result between measurement data recorded on several flights and estimation data calculated using model and examine the characteristics of the radiation environment in the atmosphere.

Tracing Metallicity in the Scenario of High Velocity Clouds (HVCs) Colliding with our Milky Way

  • Sung, Kwang Hyun;Kwak, Kyujin
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.39 no.2
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    • pp.77.2-77.2
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    • 2014
  • Questions of how our Milky Way evolves through the interaction with its environment have been constantly raised. One particularly interesting question is how the metallicity would change as our Milky Way goes through collision with HVCs. Because of the possibility of HVCs providing fuel for star formation in the Galactic disk, we simulate the collision between HVCs and the Galactic disk. More specifically, we trace how the Galactic metallicity changes throughout the process of HVCs colliding with our Milky Way based upon a specific scenario that HVCs are primordial gas left-overs from an ancient galaxy formation. Such mixing between metal-rich gas (disk) and metal-poor HVC can be traced by running numerical simulations with the FLASH code due to its capability of tracking down the abundance change of a specific element such as carbon at each time step of the hydrodynamic evolution. As for now, we give how this mixing depends on model parameters that we choose such as collision speed, initial metallicities, temperature and so on.

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Pixel Intensity Histogram Method for Unresolved Stars: Case of the Arches Cluster

  • Shin, Jihye;Kim, Sungsoo S.
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.39 no.1
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    • pp.58.2-58.2
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    • 2014
  • The Arches cluster is a young (2-4 Myr), compact (~1 pc), and massive (${\sim}2{\times}10^4M_{\odot}$) star cluster located ~30 pc away from the Galactic center (GC) in projection. Being exposed to the extreme environment of the GC such as elevated temperature and turbulent velocities in the molecular clouds, strong magnetic fields, and larger tidal forces, the Arches cluster is an excellent target for understanding the effects of star-forming environment on the initial mass function (IMF) of the star cluster. However, resolving stars fainter than ~1 $M_{\odot}$ in the Arches cluster partially will have to wait until an extremely large telescope with adaptive optics in the infrared is available. Here we devise a new method to estimate the shape of the low-end mass function where the individual stars are not resolved, and apply it to the Arches cluster. This method involves histograms of pixel intensities in the observed images. We find that the initial mass function of the Arches cluster should not be too different from that for the Galactic disk such as the Kroupa IMF.

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Three-Dimensional Numerical Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Magnetic Reconnection in the Interstellar Medium

  • TANUMA SYUNITI;YOKOYAMA TAKAAKI;KUDOH TAKAHIRO;SHIBATA KAZUNARI
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.309-311
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    • 2001
  • Strong thermal X-ray emission, called Galactic Ridge X-ray Emission, is observed along the Galactic plane (Koyama et al. 1986). The origin of hot ($\~$7 keV) component of GRXE is not known, while cool ($\~$0.8 keV) one is associated with supernovae (Kaneda et al. 1997, Sugizaki et al. 2001). We propose a possible mechanism to explain the origin; locally strong magnetic fields of $B_{local}\;\~30{\mu}G$ heat interstellar gas to $\~$7 keV via magnetic reconnection (Tanuma et al. 1999). There will be the small-scale (< 10 pc) strong magnetic fields, which can be observed as $(B)_{obs} \;\~3{\mu}G$ by integration of Faraday Rotation Measure, if it is localized by a volume filling factor of f $\~$ 0.1. In order to examine this model, we solved three-dimensional (3D) resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations numerically to examine the magnetic reconnect ion triggered by a supernova shock (fig.l). We assume that the magnetic field is Bx = 30tanh(y/20pc) $\mu$G, By = Bz = 0, and the temperature is uniform, at the initial condition. We put a supernova explosion outside the current sheet. The supernova-shock, as a result, triggers the magnetic reconnect ion, and the gas is heatd to > 7 keV. The magnetic reconnect ion heats the interstellar gas to $\~$7 keV in the Galactic plane, if it occurs in the locally strong magnetic fields of $B_{local}\;\~30{\mu}G$. The heated plasma is confined by the magnetic field for $\~10^{5.5} yr$. The required interval of the magnetic reconnect ions (triggered by anything) is $\~$1 - 10 yr. The magnetic reconnect ion will explain the origin of X-rays from the Galactic ridge, furthermore the Galactic halo, and clusters of galaxies.

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Supernova Remnants in the UWISH2 survey: A preliminary report

  • Lee, Yong-Hyun;Koo, Bon-Chul
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.36 no.2
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    • pp.115.2-115.2
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    • 2011
  • UWISH2 (UKIRT Widefield Infrared Survey for $H_2$) is an unbiased, narrow-band imaging survey of the Galactic plane in the $H_2$ 1-0 S(1) emission line at $2.122{\mu}m$ using the Wide-Field Camera (WFCAM) at the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT). The survey covers about 150 square degrees of the first Galactic quadrant ($10^{\circ}$ < l < $65^{\circ}$; $-1.3^{\circ}$ < b < $+1.3^{\circ}$). The images have a $5{\sigma}$ detection limit of point sources of K~18 mag and the surface brightness limit is $10^{-19}\;W\;m^{-2}$ $arcsec^{-2}$. The survey operation began on 28 July 2009 and has completed on 17 August 2011. We have been studying the supernova remnants (SNRs) in the UWISH2 survey area. Among the known 274 Galactic SNRs, the survey area includes 65 SNRs or 24 percent of the known SNRs. The wide-field and high-quality UWISH2 images allow us to identify both the diffuse extended and compact $H_2$ emission associated with SNRs, which is useful for understanding their physical environment and evolution. The continuum is subtracted from the narrow-band $H_2$ images using the K-band continuum images obtained as part of the UKIDSS GPS (UKIRT Infrared Deep Sky Survey of the Galactic Plane). So far, we have inspected 42 SNRs, and found distinct H2 emission in 14 SNRs. The detection rate is 33%. Some of the SNRs show bright, complex, and interesting structures that have never been reported in previous studies. In this report, we present our identification scheme and preliminary results.

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The spin of spiral galaxies in different environments

  • Cervantes-Sodi, Bernardo
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.35 no.1
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    • pp.81.2-81.2
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    • 2010
  • The origin of galactic angular momentum is commonly explained as a result of tidal torques of neighbouring protogalaxies on the forming galactic halo. In this context, the environment plays a preponderant role establishing the total angular momentum of present day galaxies. For the last four decades, most of the observational studies focused their attention on the spatial orientation of galaxies in filaments, groups or clusters, leaving behind the magnitude of the angular momentum. We have implemented a simple model to account for the spin of disk galaxies that allow us to obtain an estimate for any galaxy requiring a minimum of information. Applying this method to a sample of galaxies extracted from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, we have been studying angular momentum distributions of galaxies in different environments. In this talk I will present some results for galaxies immersed in different environments, spanning three orders of magnitude in environmental density, galaxies having nearby companions and clustered galaxies.

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