• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.48.2-48.2
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• 2015

van Dokkum and Conroy revisited the strong Na I lines at $8200{\AA}$ found in some giant elliptical galaxies and interpreted it as evidence for bottom-heavy initial mass function. Jeong et al. later found a lot of galaxies showing strong Na D doublet absorption line at $5900{\AA}$ (Na D excess objects; a.k.a. NEOs) and showed that their origins can be different for different types of galaxies. While the excess in Na D seems related with interstellar medium in late-type galaxies, smooth-looking early-type NEOs suggest no compelling sign of ISM contributions. To test this finding, we measured doppler shift in the Na D line. We hypothesized that ISM is more likely to show blueshift due to outflow caused by either star formation or AGN activities. In order to measure the doppler shift, we tried both Gaussian and Voigt functions to fit each galaxy spectrum near the Na D line. We found that Voigt profiles reproduce the shapes of the Na D lines markedly better. Many of late-type NEOs clearly show blueshift in their Na D lines, which is consistent with the former interpretation that the Na D excess found in them is related with star formation-caused gas outflow. On the contrary, early-type NEOs do not show any notable doppler component, which is also consistent with the interpretation of Jeong et al. that the Na D excess in early-type NEOs is likely not related with ISM activities but purely stellar in origin.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.237-242
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• 2012

We have performed a systematic study of interstellar dust grains in various environments of galaxies. AKARI has revealed the detailed properties of dust grains not only in star-forming regions but also in regions not relevant to star formation, some of which are found not to follow our old empirical knowledge. Because of its unique capabilities, AKARI has provided new knowledge on the processing of large grains and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). For example, we detect PAHs from elliptical galaxies, which show unusual spectral features and spatial distributions, demonstrating importance of material processing in the interstellar space. We find that copious amounts of large grains and PAHs are flowing out of starburst galaxies by galactic superwinds, which are being shattered and destroyed in galactic haloes. We discover evidence for graphitization of carbonaceous grains near the center of our Galaxy, providing a clue to understanding the activity of the Galactic center. We review the results obtained from our AKARI program, focusing on the processing of carbonaceous grains in various environments of galaxies.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.175-177
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• 2017

In order to reveal physical conditions of molecular gas in active galaxies (active galaxies mean both starbursts and AGNs in this paper), we carried out systematic observations (R = 19 ~ 120) of CO fundamental band at $4.7{\mu}m$ in absorption with AKARI. We also made follow-up CO absorption observations at higher spectral resolution (R = 5000 ~ 1000) with Subaru. Recently, Herschel made extensive observations of highly-excited CO lines in emission in the far-infrared. The two data sets (absorption and emission) sometimes provide us with apparently inconsistent results. One case is starburst galaxies: Subaru observations showed low temperature of molecular gas toward the starburst NGC 253, while Herschel detected highly excited CO lines in the starburst. This suggests that warm molecular clouds are more deeply embedded than newly formed star clusters. The other case is obscured AGNs; Herschel detected highly excited CO lines in emission in nearby AGNs, while AKARI and Subaru observations showed CO absorption only in some of the obscured AGNs. This could reflect the difference of nature of molecular tori in these AGNs. We propose the combination of the absorption and emission observations as an effective tool to reveal geometry of warm molecular clouds in active galaxies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.47.3-48
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• 2015

We present environmental effects on the galaxy evolution in the Virgo cluster focusing on intracluster medium - interstellar medium (ICM-ISM) interactions and gravitational interactions. We identify signatures of these environmental effects for 21 massive late-type galaxies based on the visual inspection of high resolution HI data from VLA Imaging of Virgo spirals in Atomic gas (VIVA) survey comparing with multi-wavelength data. We classify galaxies into three subgroups showing different environmental effects. First and second groups includes galaxies influenced by ongoing/active and past ram pressure stripping effect, respectively. Third group consists of galaxies undergoing gravitational interactions. Additionally, we define neighbor galaxies for each VIVA galaxies utilizing kinematic data from Extended Virgo Cluster Catalog. Assuming that neighbor galaxies share similar levels of environmental effects with host VIVA galaxies, we investigate environmental effects on galaxy properties in different subgroups using SDSS optical and GALEX ultraviolet photometric data. We find that dwarf neighbor galaxies in first and second groups show rapid quenching of their star formation (SF), while massive counterparts are still in SF activity. On the other hand, most third group galaxies show hints of SF activity regardless of their mass. We conclude that SF and evolution of galaxy in the cluster environment is closely linked to ICM-ISM interactions and dwarf galaxies seem to be more sensitive to this effect compared to massive counterparts.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.171-177
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• 2007

In external galaxies, the velocity dispersion of the atomic hydrogen gas shows a remarkably flat distribution with the galactocentric radius. This has been a long-standing puzzle because if the gas velocity dispersion is due to turbulence caused by supernova explosions, it should decline with radius. After a discussion on the role of spiral arms and ram pressure in driving interstellar turbulence in the outer parts of galactic disks, we argue that the constant bombardment by tiny high-velocity halo clouds can be a significant source of random motions in the outer disk gas. Recent observations of the flaring of H I in the Galaxy are difficult to explain if the dark halo is nearly spherical as the survival of the streams of tidal debris of Sagittarius dwarf spheroidal galaxy suggests. The radial enhancement of the gas velocity dispersion (at R > 25 kpc) due to accretion of cloudy gas might naturally explain the observed flaring in the Milky Way. Other motivations and implications of this scenario have been highlighted.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.33.2-33.2
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• 2009

Diffuse ionized gas (DIG or warm ionized medium, WIM) outside traditional regions is a major component of the interstellar medium (ISM) not only in our Galaxy, but also in other galaxies. It is generally believed that major fraction of the Halpha emission in the DIG is provided by OB stars. In the "standard" photoionization models, the Lyman continuum photons escaping from bright H II regions is the dominant source responsible for ionizing the DIG. Then, a complex density structure must provide the low-density paths that allow the photons to traverse kiloparsec scales and ionize the gas far from the OB stars not only at large heights above the midplane, but also within a galactic plane. Here, I present Monte-Carlo models to examine the propagation of the ionizing radiation leaked out of traditional H II regions into the diffuse ISM applied to two face-on spirals M 51 and NGC 7424. We find that the "standard" scenario requires absorption too unrealistically small to be believed, but the obtained scale-height of the galactic disk is consistent with those of edge-on galaxies. We also report that the probability density functions of the Halpha intensities of the DIG and H II regions in the galaxies are log-normal, indicating the turbulence property of the ISM.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.151-153
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• 2017

Early-type galaxies (ETGs) are generally dominated by old low-mass stars, which are not very productive of dust, and hot interstellar plasmas, which are very destructive of dust. Thus ETGs provide harsh environments for survival of dust. It has been found that some ETGs contain a large amount of dust, and yet its supply mechanism is not understood well. We present the result of a systematic study of dust in ETGs with the AKARI mid- and far-infrared all-sky surveys. From the AKARI result and the Ks band data obtained by ground-based telescopes, we find that there is a global correlation between the dust mass and stellar luminosity. We also compare the AKARI all-sky survey result with the CO data to discuss origins of dust in ETGs.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.33.1-33.1
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• 2013

Galaxies undergo various processes in the cluster environment, which could affect their evolution. In particular, ram pressure due to intracluster medium (ICM) can effectively remove HI gas, which is a relatively diffuse form of interstellar medium (ISM). On the other hand, molecular gas is not expected to get easily stripped as atomic gas since it is denser and sitting well within the stellar disk in a deeper potential well. However, cluster galaxies are found to be redder and more passive in star formation activity compared to their field counterpart. This implies that molecular gas may also get affected somehow in dense environments. In this work, we investigate molecular gas properties of a sample of galaxies undergoing HI stripping due to the ICM. We present the 12/13 CO (2-1) data of four spiral galaxies in the Virgo cluster at different ram pressure stripping stages, obtained using the Sub Millimeter Array (SMA). CO morphology of the sample appears to be highly asymmetric and disturbed. Using the ratio of different lines, we probe the molecular gas temperature in different regions. We find higher gas temperature than the range normally found among field galaxies. We discuss how these distinct molecular gas properties may affect star formation and hence the evolution of the cluster galaxy population.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.85.2-85.2
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• 2012

The interstellar medium (ISM) of galaxies in the galaxy cluster can well be affected by the intracluster medium (ICM). Among many suggested environmental processes, ram pressure stripping can effectively remove gas through the interaction with the ICM. In fact, Cluster galaxies are lower in HI gas mass compared to their field counterparts, and in recent high resolution HI imaging studies, many galaxies in dense environments have been found to be ram pressure stripped in HI. However, it is still under debate whether the ICM pressure can also remove dense molecular gas from the galactic disk, which plays more important role in star formation and hence galaxy evolution. To answer this question, we have obtained high resolution 12/13 CO (2-1) data from the Sub Millimeter Array (SMA) of four galaxies at various HI stripping stages to study how the molecular gas properties change as the galaxy experiences the ICM pressure. We investigate the physical properties of molecular gas with 12/13 CO images. By comparing with other wavelength data, i.e. data(optical, HI, $H{\alpha}$, etc), we discuss how and in which timescale galaxies can migrate from the blue cloud to the red sequence due to ram pressure stripping.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.245-248
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• 2005

We present mm observations with the IRAM 30m radiotelescope of the HCN (J=1-0) and HCO+ (J=1-0) emission lines from Giant Moleculat Clouds (GMC) in the disk of the Andromeda Galaxy, The selected GMC targets have various morphology and environments, including locations within spiral arms or in interarm regions and with galactocentric radii ranging from 2.4 to 15.5 kpc over the disk. The radial distributions of the ratios HCN/CO and HCO+ /CO are discussed and their values are compared to other galaxies.