• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.381-398
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• 2015

Dynamical analysis of compact groups provides important tests of models of compact group formation and evolution. By compiling 2066 redshifts from FLWO/FAST, from the literature, and from SDSS DR12 in the fields of compact groups in , we construct the largest sample of compact groups with complete spectroscopic redshifts in the redshift range 0.01 < z < 0.22. This large redshift sample shows that the interloper fraction in the compact group candidates is ~ 42%. A secure sample of 332 compact groups includes 192 groups with four or more member galaxies and 140 groups with three members. The fraction of early-type galaxies in these compact groups is 62%, higher than for the original Hickson compact groups. The velocity dispersions of early-and late-type galaxies in compact groups change little with groupcentric radius; the radii sampled are less than 100 h⁻¹ kpc, smaller than the radii typically sampled by members of massive clusters of galaxies. The physical properties of our sample compact groups include size, number density, velocity dispersion, and local environment; these properties slightly differ from those derived for the original Hickson compact groups and for the DPOSS II compact groups. Differences result from subtle differences in the way the group candidates were originally selected. The abundance of the compact groups changes little with redshift over the range covered by this sample. The approximate constancy of the abundance for this sample is a potential constraint on the evolution of compact groups on a few Gigayear timescale.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.363-365
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• 2015

We study galaxies drawn from the semi-analytic models of Guo et al. (2011) based on the Millennium Simulation. We establish a set of four observationally measurable parameters which can be used in combination to identify a subset of galaxy groups which are old, with a very high probability. We therefore argue that a sample of fossil groups selected based on the luminosity gap will result in a contaminated sample of old galaxy groups. By adding constraints on the luminosity of the brightest galaxy, and its offset from the group luminosity centroid, we can considerably improve the age-dating.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.359-361
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• 2015

We use the millennium simulation for studying the evolution of groups of galaxies over time. We find fossil and non-fossil groups as well as old and young groups at redshift z = 0 and follow them back in time to investigate the evolution of their parameters, such as mass assembly, luminosity gap and halo mass concentration. We find that fossils assemble a larger fraction of their mass at z = 0 than controls. The magnitude gaps between fossil and non-fossil groups are not the same because of major and minor mergers, in old and young groups as well. We also find that WMAP1 and WMAP7 cosmologies lead to the same evolutionary history for fossil and control groups.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.469-471
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• 2015

How galaxies are affected by their neighboring galaxies during galaxy-galaxy interactions is a long-standing question. We investigate the role of neighbors in galaxy pairs based on the SDSS data release 7 and the KIAS value-added galaxy catalog. Three groups of galaxies are identified: (a) galaxies with an early-type neighbor, (b) with a late-type neighbor, and (c) isolated ones with no neighbor. We compare their UV + optical colors and $H{\alpha}$ emission as indicators of the recent star-formation rate (SFR). Given that galaxies show systematic differences in SFR as functions of morphology, luminosity, and large-scale environments, we construct a control sample in which the galaxies have the same conditions (in terms of morphology, luminosity, and large-scale environment) except for the neighbor's properties (i.e., morphology, mass, and distance). The results are as follows. (1) Galaxies with a late-type companion demonstrate more enhanced SFR than those with an early-type companion. (2) Galaxies with an early-type neighbor show NUV- and u-band derived SFRs that are even lower than that of isolated galaxies, while they have similar or slightly higher $H{\alpha}$-based SFR compared to isolated ones.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.161-175
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• 2011

We examine the dependence of the morphology of spiral galaxies on the environment using the KIAS Value Added Galaxy Catalog (VAGC) which is derived from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7. Our goal is to understand whether the local environment or global conditions dominate in determining the morphology of spiral galaxies. For the analysis, we conduct a morphological classification of galaxies in 20 X-ray selected Abell clusters up to z~0.06, using SDSS color images and the X-ray data from the Northern ROSAT All-Sky (NORAS) catalog. We analyze the distribution of arm classes along the clustercentric radius as well as that of Hubble types. To segregate the effect of local environment from the global environment, we compare the morphological distribution of galaxies in two X-lay luminosity groups, the low-$L_x$ clusters ($L_x$ < $0.15{\times}10^{44}$erg/s) and high-$L_x$ clusters ($L_x$ > $1.8{\times}10^{44}$erg/s). We find that the morphology-clustercentric relation prevails in the cluster environment although there is a brake near the cluster virial radius. The grand design arms comprise about 40% of the cluster spiral galaxies with a weak morphology-clustercentric radius relation for the arm classes, in the sense that flocculent galaxies tend to increase outward, regardless of the X-ray luminosity. From the cumulative radial distribution of cluster galaxies, we found that the low-$L_x$ clusters are fully virialized while the high-$L_x$ clusters are not.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.101-105
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• 2010

Taking the great advantage of Subaru's wide field coverage both in the optical and in the near infrared, we have been providing panoramic views of distant clusters and their surrounding environments over the wide redshift range of 0:4 < z < 3. From our unique data sets, a consistent picture has been emerging that the star forming activity is once enhanced and then truncated in galaxy groups in the outskirts of clusters during the course of cluster assembly at z < 1. Such activity is shifted into cluster cores as we go further back in time to z ~ 1.5. At z = 2 - 2.5, we begin to enter the epoch when massive galaxies are actually forming in the cluster core. And by z ~ 3, we eventually go beyond the major epoch of massive galaxy formation. It is likely that the environmental dependence of star forming activity is at least partly due to the external environmental effects such as galaxy-galaxy interaction in medium density regions at z < 1, while the intrinsic effect of galaxy formation bias overtakes the external effect at higher redshifts, resulting in a large star formation activity in the cluster center.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.67.2-67.2
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• 2014

The presence of multiple populations is now well-established in most globular clusters in the Milky Way. In light of this progress, here we suggest a new model explaining the origin of the Sandage period-shift and the difference in mean period of type ab RR Lyrae variables between the two Oosterhoff groups. In our models, the instability strip in the metal-poor group II clusters, such as M15, is populated by second generation stars (G2) with enhanced helium and CNO abundances, while the RR Lyraes in the relatively metal-rich group I clusters like M3 are mostly produced by first generation stars (G1) without these enhancements. This population shift within the instability strip with metallicity can create the observed period-shift between the two groups, since both helium and CNO abundances play a role in increasing the period of RR Lyrae variables. The presence of more metal-rich clusters having Oosterhoff-intermediate characteristics, such as NGC 1851, as well as of most metal-rich clusters having RR Lyraes with longest periods (group III) can also be reproduced, as more helium-rich third and later generations of stars (G3) penetrate into the instability strip with further increase in metallicity. Therefore, although there are systems where the suggested population shift cannot be a viable explanation, for the most general cases, our models predict that the RR Lyraes are produced mostly by G1, G2, and G3, respectively, for the Oosterhoff groups I, II, and III.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.37.2-37.2
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• 2019

Recent investigations of the double red clump in the color-magnitude diagram of the Milky Way bulge cast serious doubts on the structure and formation origin of the outer bulge. Unlike previous interpretation based on an X-shaped bulge, stellar evolution models and CN-band observations have suggested that this feature is another manifestation of the multiple stellar population phenomenon observed in globular clusters (GCs). This new scenario requires a significant fraction of the outer bulge stars with chemical patterns uniquely observed in GCs. Here we show from homogeneous high-quality spectroscopic data that the red giant branch stars in the outer bulge ($>5.5^{\circ}$ from the Galactic center) are clearly divided into two groups according to Na abundance in the [Na/Fe] - [Fe/H] plane. The Na-rich stars are also enhanced in Al, while the differences in O and Mg are not observed between the two Na groups. The population ratio and the Na and Al differences between the two groups are also comparable with those observed in metal-rich GCs. Since these chemical patterns and characteristics are only explained by stars originated in GCs, this is compelling evidence that the outer bulge was mostly assembled from disrupted proto-GCs in the early history of the Milky Way. We will also discuss the implications of this result on the formation of the early-type galaxies in general.