• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.82.2-82.2
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• 2013

The NISS (Near-infrared Imaging Spectrometer for Star formation history) onboard NEXTSat-1 is being developed by KASI. The NISS will perform the imaging low-resolution spectroscopic observation in the near-infrared range for nearby galaxies, low background regions, starforming regions and so on. The off-axis reflecting telescope with a wide field of view (2 deg. ${\times}$ 2 deg.) will be operated in the wavelength range from 0.95 to $3.8{\mu}m$. In order to reduce thermal noise, a telescope and a HgCdTe infrared sensor will be cooled down to 200K and 80K, respectively. To evade a stray light outside a field of view and use limited space efficiently, the NISS adopted the off-axis reflective optical system. The primary and secondary mirrors, optomechanical part and mechanical structure were designed to use the same material. It will lessen the degradation of optical performance due to a thermal variation. The purpose of NISS is the observation of cosmic near-infrared background in the wide wavelength range as well as the detection of near-infrared spectral lines in nearby galaxies, cluster of galaxies and star forming regions. It will give us less biased information on the star formation history. In addition, we will demonstrate the space technologies related to the development of the Korea's leading near-infrared instrument for the future large infrared telescope, SPICA.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.37.1-37.1
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• 2017

Since the seminal work of Perrin, physicists have understood in the context of kinetic theory how ink slowly diffuses in a glass of water. The fluctuations of the stochastic forces acting on water molecules drive the diffusion of the ink in the fluid. This is the archetype of a process described by the so-called fluctuation-dissipation theorem, which universally relates the rate of diffusion to the power spectrum of the fluctuating forces. For stars in galaxies, a similar process occurs but with two significant differences, due to the long-range nature of the gravitational interaction: (i) for the diffusion to be effective, stars need to resonate, i.e. present commensurable frequencies, otherwise they only follow the orbit imposed by their mean field; (ii) the amplitudes of the induced fluctuating forces are significantly boosted by collective effects, i.e. by the fact that, because of self-gravity, each star generates a wake in its neighbours. In the expanding universe, an overdense perturbation passing a critical threshold will collapse onto itself and, through violent relaxation and mergers, rapidly converge towards a stationary, phase-mixed and highly symmetric state, with a partially frozen orbital structure. The object is then locked in a quasi-stationary state imposed by its mean gravitational field. Of particular interests are strongly responsive colder systems which, given time and kicks, find the opportunity to significantly reshuffle their orbital structure towards more likely configurations. This presentation aims to explain this long-term reshuffling called gravity-driven secular evolution on cosmic timescales, described by extended kinetic theory. I will illustrate this with radial migration, disc thickening and the stellar cluster in the galactic centre.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.52.2-53
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• 2017

We develop a methodology to use the redshift dependence of the galaxy 2-point correlation function (2pCF) as a probe of cosmological parameters. The positions of galaxies in comoving Cartesian space varies under different cosmological parameter choices, inducing a redshift-dependent scaling in the galaxy distribution. This geometrical distortion can be observed as a redshift-dependent rescaling in the measured 2pCF. The shape of the 2pCF exhibits a significant redshift evolution when the galaxy sample is analyzed under a cosmology differing from the true, simulated one. Other contributions, including the gravitational growth of structure, galaxy bias, and the redshift space distortions, do not produce large redshift evolution in the shape. We show that one can make use of this geometrical distortion to constrain the values of cosmological parameters governing the expansion history of the universe. This method could be applicable to future large scale structure surveys, especially photometric surveys such as DES, LSST, to derive tight cosmological constraints. This work is a continuation of our previous works as a strategy to constrain cosmological parameters using redshift-invariant physical quantities.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.54.3-55
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• 2017

The nature and physical environments of SNRs are diverse, and for this reason, the understanding of the properties of nearby SNRs is useful in interpreting the emission from SNRs in remote galaxies where we cannot resolve them. In this regard, the LMC is a unique place to study SNRs due to its proximity, location, and composition compared with our galaxy. We carried out a multi-wavelength study of SNR N63A in the LMC, a young remnant of the SN explosion of one of the most massive (> 40 Msun) stars in a cluster. It is currently expanding within a large H II region formed by OB stars in the cluster and engulfing a molecular cloud (MC). As such, N63A is a prototypical SNR showing the impact of SN explosion on the cluster and its environment. Its morphology varies strongly across the wave bands, e.g. the size in X-ray is three times larger than in optical. However, the bright optical nebula would correspond to a MC swept up by the SNR, and consequently the interaction SNR-MC is limited to the central portion of the SNR. We aimed to study the overall structure of N63A, using near-IR imaging and spectroscopic observations to obtain the physical parameters of the atomic shocks, and also to understand how the SNR- MC interaction works and reveal the structure of the shocked cloud as well as the consequences of the impact of the SNR shock on the MC, comparing information obtained in different wavelengths.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.593-596
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• 2004

We introduce a method of identifying evidence of shocks in the X-ray emitting gas in clusters of galaxies. Using information from synthetic observations of simulated clusters, we do a blind search of the synthetic image plane. The locations of likely shocks found using this method closely match those of shocks identified in the simulation hydrodynamic data. Though this method assumes nothing about the geometry of the shocks, the general distribution of shocks as a function of Mach number in the cluster hydrodynamic data can be extracted via this method. Characterization of the cluster shock distribution is critical to understanding production of cosmic rays in clusters and the use of shocks as dynamical tracers.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.421-426
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• 2004

I briefly review the current theoretical status of the origins of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays with special emphasis on models associated with galaxy clusters. Some basic constraints on models are laid out, including those that apply both to so-called 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' models. The origins of these UHECRs remain an enigma; no model stands out as a clear favorite. Large scale structure formation shocks, while very attractive conceptually in this context, are unlikely to be able to accelerate particles to energies much above $10^{18}eV$. Terminal shocks in relativistic AGN jets seem to be more viable candidates physically, but suffer from their rarity in the local universe. Several other, representative, models are outlined for comparison.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.73-75
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• 2005

The latest scientific highlights obtained with the Subaru telescope are given together with its current status and on-going instrumentation. We have been successfully operating the telescope and 8 observatory instruments (including an adaptive optics system) since January 1999, when the first light was accomplished. Open-use of Subaru began in December 2000. Subaru has a unique capability of its prime focus among other 8-10 meter class telescopes and has an excellent imaging performance as a result of its sophisticated active optics combined with the high stability of the sky at Mauna Kea. Scientific highlights are given on the discoveries of the most distant galaxies, spiral structure on a protoplanetary disk around AB Aur, and planetesimal belts in the debris disk around $\beta$ Pic. Brief summaries are given for three new instruments: the Multi-Object Infrared Camera and Spectrograph (MOIRCS), 188 element adaptive optics system, and Fiber Multi-Object Spectrograph (FMOS)

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.95-105
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• 1991

In the presence of synchrotron losses, diffusion of an ensembel of relativistic particles in an intraculster medium is investigated. The diffusion coefficient in the medium is found to be constrained by $28.8\;{\pm}\;0.4\;{\leq}\;Log\;D\;{\leq}\;30.5\;{\pm}\;0.4\;cm^2s^{-1}$ with the energy dependency of $D_0{\varepsilon}^{\mu}$ of ${\mu}=0.4{\pm}0.2$ as the previous observations suggested. As an important implication of the result, the brightest head-tail radio source NGC 4869, whose radio tail structure is indicative for its orbit within the cluster core, is considered to be the major contributor of particles for the formation of the Coma radio halo.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.56.1-56.1
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• 2014

Although the growth of structure, as traced by galaxy clusters, has been extensively studied through cosmological simulations and large-scale surveys, the early formation and evolution of their galaxy content, and its relation to the transformation of the host environment, are still somewhat poorly understood. This is particularly true of the processes that give rise to the quiescent galaxy population between z=3 and z=2. Recent discoveries at z~2 are now bridging the gap between the well-established massive clusters of the last 9 Gyr and the high-redshift universe, and new datasets are now giving us access to statistical populations of intermediate-mass structures at this epoch. I will discuss the properties of quiescent galaxies in the most distant confirmed X-ray detected galaxy clusters, their implications for galaxy quenching at high-redshift as well as the regulation of star formation at group scales at z~2.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.44.2-44.2
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• 2012

Cosmological shock waves result from supersonic flow motions induced by hierarchical clustering during the large-scale structure formation in the Universe. Suprathermal particles are known to be produced via plasma interactions at collisionless shocks in tenuous plasmas and they can be further accelerated to become cosmic rays (CRs) via diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). The presence of CR electrons has been inferred from observations of diffuse radio halos and relics in some merging galaxy clusters. We have calculated the emissions from CR electrons accelerated at weak planar shocks, using time-dependent DSA simulations that include energy losses via synchrotron emission and Inverse Compton scattering. The simulated nonthermal emission are used to model the synchrotron emission from several observed radio relics.