• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.111-121
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• 2003

In order to explore the cosmic ray acceleration at the cosmological shocks, we have performed numerical simulations of one-dimensional, plane-parallel, cosmic ray (CR) modified shocks with the newly developed CRASH (Cosmic Ray Amr SHock) numerical code. Based on the hypothesis that strong Alfven waves are self-generated by streaming CRs, the Bohm diffusion model for CRs is adopted. The code includes a plasma-physics-based 'injection' model that transfers a small proportion of the thermal proton flux through the shock into low energy CRs for acceleration there. We found that, for strong accretion shocks with Mach numbers greater than 10, CRs can absorb most of shock kinetic energy and the accretion shock speed is reduced up to $20\%$, compared to pure gas dynamic shocks. Although the amount of kinetic energy passed through accretion shocks is small, since they propagate into the low density intergalactic medium, they might possibly provide acceleration sites for ultra-high energy cosmic rays of $E\ll10^{18}eV$. For internal/merger shocks with Mach numbers less than 3, however, the energy transfer to CRs is only about $10-20\%$ and so nonlinear feedback due to the CR pressure is insignificant. Considering that intracluster medium (ICM) can be shocked repeatedly, however, the CRs generated by these weak shocks could be sufficient to explain the observed non-thermal signatures from clusters of galaxies.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.183-187
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• 2015

We use ALLWISE data release W1- and W2-band epoch photometry collected by the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to determine slopes of the period-luminosity relations for RR Lyrae stars in 15 globular clusters in the corresponding bands. We further combine these results with V- and K-band photometry of Galactic field RR Lyrae stars to determine the metallicity slopes of the log $P_F-[Fe/H]-M_K$, log $P_F-[Fe/H]-M_{W1}$, and log $P_F-[Fe/H]-M_{W2}$ period-metallicity-luminosity relations. We infer the zero points of these relations and determine the kinematical parameters of thick-disk and halo RR Lyraes via statistical parallax, and estimate the RR Lyrae-based distances to 18 Local-Group galaxies including the center of the Milky Way.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.84.2-84.2
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• 2012

We present wide-field multiband photometry of globular cluster (GC) systems toward the central region of the Fornax cluster of galaxies, including NGC 1399, NGC 1404, and NGC 1387. Observation was carried out through four optical passbands (U, B, V, and I) with the Mosaic II CCD imager mounted on the 4-m Blanco telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO). This marks one of the widest U-band photometric studies on GC systems. GC candidates are selected among point sources based on their two color diagrams together with a magnitude cut. We investigate the radial variation of color distributions for the GC systems, focusing on the fundamental parameters that characterize bimodal distributions; the number ratio between blue and red GCs, the mean colors of the groups, and their color dispersions. We discuss the implication of our result regarding the origin of GC color bimodality.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.44.3-44.3
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• 2019

Massive stars, supernovae, and kilonovae are among the most luminous radiation sources in the universe. Observations usually show near- to mid-infrared (NIR-MIR, 1-5~micron) emission excess from H II regions around young massive star clusters (YMSCs) and anomalous dust extinction and polarization towards Type Ia supernova (SNe Ia). The popular explanation for such NIR-MIR excess and unusual dust properties is the predominance of small grains (size a<0.05micron) relative to large grains (a>0.1micron) in the local environment of these strong radiation sources. The question of why small grains are predominant in these environments remains a mystery. Here we report a new mechanism of dust destruction based on centrifugal stress within extremely fast rotating grains spun-up by radiative torques, namely the RAdiative Torque Disruption (RATD) mechanism, which can resolve this question. We find that RATD can destroy large grains located within a distance of ~ 1 pc from a massive star of luminosity L~ 10^4L_sun and a supernova. This increases the abundance of small grains relative to large grains and successfully reproduces the observed NIR-MIR excess and anomalous dust extinction/polarization. We show that small grains produced by RATD can also explain the steep far-UV rise in extinction curves toward starburst and high redshift galaxies, as well as the decrease of the escape fraction of Ly-alpha photons observed from HII regions surrounding YMSCs.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.31.3-32
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• 2020

The surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) is one of the most crucial distance indicators for unresolved stellar systems at large distances. Here, we present an evolutionary population synthesis model of the surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) for normal and He-enriched simple stellar populations (SSPs). Our SBF model for the normal-He population agrees well with other existing models, but the He-rich populations bring about a substantial change in the SBF of SSPs. Our normal-He SBF model well reproduces the observed SBFs of the Milky Way globular clusters, but the SBFs of early-type galaxies in the Virgo Cluster are placed between the normal-He and He-rich SBF models. We show that the SBF-based distance estimation would be affected by up to a 10-20% level in I- and near-IR bands at given colors. Finally, we propose that when combined with independent metallicity and age indicators such as Mg2 and H��, the UV and optical SBFs can readily detect underlying He-rich populations in unresolved stellar systems. Given the degree of the SBF variation resulting from the population difference, we suggest that the distance measurement before the proper in-depth analysis of stellar populations should be done with great caution.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.54.3-54.3
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• 2015

To probe the star formation in local and early Universe, the NISS with a capability of imaging spectroscopy in the near-infrared is being developed by KASI. The main scientific targets are nearby galaxies, galaxy clusters, star-forming regions and low background regions. The off-axis optical design of the NISS with 15cm aperture was optimized to obtain a wide field of view (FoV) of $2deg.{\times}2deg.$ as well as a wide spectral coverage from 0.9 to $3.8{\mu}m$. The opto-mechanical structure was designed to be safe enough to endure in both the launching condition and the space environment. The dewar will operate $1k{\times}1k$ infrared sensor at 80K stage. The NISS will be launched in 2017 and explore the large areal near-infrared sky up to $200deg.^2$ in order to get both spatial and spectral information for astronomical objects. As an extension of the NISS, KASI is planning to participate in a new small space mission together with NASA. The promising candidate, SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) is an all-sky survey satellite designed to reveal the origin of the Universe and water in the planetary systems and to explore the evolution of galaxies. Though the survey concept is similar to that of the NISS, the SPHEREx will perform the first near-infrared all-sky imaging spectroscopic survey with the wider spectral range from 0.7 to $5{\mu}m$ and the wider FoV of $3.5deg.{\times}7deg.$ Here, we report the current status of the NISS and introduce new mission for the near-infrared imaging spectroscopic survey.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.58.1-58.1
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• 2017

The NISS (Near-infrared Imaging Spectrometer for Star formation history) is the near-infrared spectro-photometric instrument optimized to the first Next Generation of small satellite (NEXTSat-1). The off-axis optics was developed to cover a wide field of view with 2 deg. ${\times}$ 2 deg. as well as a wide wavelength range from 0.95 to $2.5{\mu}m$. Considering the simple alignment scheme, afocal system was adapted in the optical components. The mechanical structures were tested under the space environment. We have obtained the accurate calibration data using our test facilities under the operational condition. After the final integration of flight model into the satellite, the communication with the satellite and the functional test were passed. The NISS will be launched in early 2018. During around 2-year operation, the spectro-photometric survey covering more than 100 square degree will be performed. To achieve the major scientific objectives for the study of the cosmic star formation in local and distant universe, the main observational targets will be nearby galaxies, galaxy clusters, star-forming regions and low background regions. Here, we report the final performance of the flight model of the NISS.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.121-137
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• 2008

We present optical and near-infrared imaging and long-slit spectroscopy for the blue compact dwarf galaxy (BCD) Mrk 49 in the Virgo Cluster. The surface brightness distribution analysis shows that Mrk 49 consists of an off-centered blue bright compact core of r = 10" and a red faint outer exponential envelope. The $H_{\alpha}$ image and color difference suggest that these two components have different stellar populations: a high surface brightness population of massive young stars and an underlying low surface brightness population of older stars. The redder near-infrared colors of the inner most region suggest that the near-infrared flux of Mrk 49 originates from evolved massive stars associated with the current star-forming activity. The total apparent magnitude is $B_T\;=\;14.32$ mag and the mean effective surface brightness is ${\mu}_{eff}(B)\;=\;21.56$ mag $arcsec^{-2}$. Long-slit spectroscopy shows that Mrk 49 rotates apparently as a solid body within r = 10" in a plane at position angle 55 degrees with an amplitude of about $20\;km\;sec^{-1}$. The measured radial velocity of Mrk 49 was derived as $1,535\;km\;sec^{-1}$; and the total mass of stars and gases is in the range of 3 to $6\;{\times}\;10^9\;M_{\odot}$. The mass-to-light ratios for the central region of Mrk 49 in I and B band are estimated 1.0 and 0.5, respectively. The upper limit of the dark matter to visible matter ratio seems to be < 5. The oxygen abundance is $12\;+\;\log(O/H)\;=\;8.21\;{\pm}\; 0.1$ which is about one quarter of the solar value while the relative helium abundance appears to be similar to that of the sun.

• 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.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.59-73
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• 2023

The second generation of stars in the globular clusters (GCs) of the Milky Way (MW) exhibit unusually high N, Na, or Al, compared to typical Galactic halo stars at similar metallicities. The halo field stars enhanced with such elements are believed to have originated in disrupted GCs or escaped from existing GCs. We identify such stars in the metallicity range -3.0 < [Fe/H] < 0.0 from a sample of ~36,800 giant stars observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope survey, and present their dynamical properties. The N-rich population (NRP) and N-normal population (NNP) among our giant sample do not exhibit similarities in either in their metallicity distribution function (MDF) or dynamical properties. We find that, even though the MDF of the NRP looks similar to that of the MW's GCs in the range of [Fe/H] < -1.0, our analysis of the dynamical properties does not indicate similarities between them in the same metallicity range, implying that the escaped members from existing GCs may account for a small fraction of our N-rich stars, or the orbits of the present GCs have been altered by the dynamical friction of the MW. We also find a significant increase in the fraction of N-rich stars in the halo field in the very metal-poor (VMP; [Fe/H] < -2.0) regime, comprising up to ~20% of the fraction of the N-rich stars below [Fe/H] = -2.5, hinting that partially or fully destroyed VMP GCs may have in some degree contributed to the Galactic halo. A more detailed dynamical analysis of the NRP reveals that our sample of N-rich stars do not share a single common origin. Although a substantial fraction of the N-rich stars seem to originate from the GCs formed in situ, more than 60% of them are not associated with those of typical Galactic populations, but probably have extragalactic origins associated with Gaia Sausage/Enceladus, Sequoia, and Sagittarius dwarf galaxies, as well as with presently unrecognized progenitors.