• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.44.1-44.1
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• 2013

We investigate the origin of radio emission in nearby early-type galaxies using the European VLBI Network (EVN) at 1.4 GHz. The sample included NGC 1277, which was found to have an over-massive black hole of $1.7{\times}10^{10}M_{\odot}$, and four other early-type galaxies in the Perseus cluster. All the sources were detected above $5{\sigma}$. They show compact radio cores and high brightness temperatures, $10^7{\sim}10^9K$, which implies that radio emission in these objects is non-thermal. While the observed radio luminosities could be consistent with star formation (${\sim}1M_{\odot}yr^{-1}$), the small source size would imply a specific star formation rate (sSFR) of ${\sim}10^6M_{\odot}yr^{-1}kpc^{-2}$. Such a high sSFR rules out ongoing star formation. Supernovae (SNe) are ruled out as well because it is unlikely that we see SNe in all galaxies at the same time, and there is no significant radio variability either. The most plausible scenario is that these galaxies show low luminosity AGN activity in the radio, although there is no sign of AGN activity in other bands. If our interpretation is correct, then regular early-type galaxies may harbor active AGN more often than suspected from observations at other wavelengths.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.57.2-57.2
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• 2011

Recent studies find that some early-type galaxies host Type II or Ibc supernovae (SNe II, Ibc). This may imply recent star formation activities in these SNe host galaxies, but a massive star origin of the SNe Ib so far observed in early-type galaxies has been questioned because of their intrinsic faintness and unusually strong Ca lines shown in the nebular phase. To address the issue, we investigate the properties of early-type SNe host galaxies using the data with Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) ultraviolet photometry and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey optical data. Our sample includes eight SNe II and one peculiar SN Ib (SN 2000ds) host galaxies as well as 32 SN Ia host galaxies. The host galaxy of SN 2005cz, another peculiar SN Ib, is also analyzed using the GALEX data and the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database optical data. We find that the NUV?optical colors of SN II/Ib host galaxies are systematically bluer than those of SN Ia host galaxies, and some SN II/Ib host galaxies with NUV - r colors markedly bluer than the others exhibit strong radio emission. We perform a stellar population synthesis analysis and find a clear signature of recent star formation activities in most of the SN II/Ib host galaxies. Our results generally support the association of the SNe II/Ib hosted in early-type galaxies with core collapse of massive stars. We briefly discuss implications for the progenitors of the peculiar SNe Ib 2000ds and 2005cz.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.239-253
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• 2016

We determined the warp parameters of 192 warped galaxies which are selected from 340 edge-on galaxies using color images as well as r-band isophotal maps. We derive the local background density (${\Sigma}_n$) to examine the dependence of the warp amplitudes on the galaxy environment. We find a clear trend that strongly warped galaxies are likely to be found in high density regions where tidal interactions are supposed to be frequent. However, the correlation between ${\alpha}_{\omega}$ and ${\Sigma}_n$ is too weak for weakly warped galaxies (${\alpha}_{\omega}$ < $4^{\circ}$) and the cumulative distributions of weakly warped galaxies are not significantly different from those of galaxies with no detectable warps. This suggests that tidal interactions do not play a decisive role in the formation of weak warps.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.59-64
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• 2010

The core and global properties of the early-type ("red sequence") galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax clusters are examined using high-quality HST/ACS imaging for 143 galaxies. Rather than dividing neatly into disparate populations having distinct formation and/or evolution histories, many of the core and global properties of these galaxies show smooth and systematic variations along the galaxy luminosity function. The few examples of the rare class of compact elliptical galaxies in our sample all show properties that are strongly suggestive of tidal stripping by massive galaxies; if so, then these systems should not be viewed as populating the low-luminosity extension of so-called "normal" elliptical sequences. These results demonstrate that complete and/or unbiased samples are a pre-requisite for identifying the physical mechanisms that gave rise to the early-type galaxies we observe locally, and how these mechanisms varied with mass and environment.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.79.1-79.1
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• 2015

We describe our ongoing project, Intensive Monitoring Survey of Nearby Galaxies. This survey is designed to study transients such as Supernovae (SNe) in nearby galaxies. Our targets are UV-bright (MUV < -18.4) and nearby (d < 50 Mpc) 50 galaxies selected from a GALEX catalog, whose star formation rates are larger than normal galaxies. High star formation in these galaxies ensures that core-collapse supernova explosions occur more frequently in them than normal galaxies. By monitoring them with a short cadence of a few hours, we expect to discover 5 SNe/yr events. Most importantly, we hope to construct very early light curves in rising phase for some of them, which enables us to understand better the physical properties of progenitor star and the explosion mechanism. To enable such a high cadence observation, we constructed a world wide telescope network covering northern, southern hemisphere distributed over a wide range of longitudes (Korea, US, Australia, Uzbekistan and Spain). Data reduction pipe line, detection and classification algorithms are being developed for an efficient processing of the data. Using the network of telescopes, we expect to reach observe not only SNe but also other transients like GRBs, Asteroid, variable AGNs and gravitaional wave optical counter part.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.41.2-41.2
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• 2010

We present ultraviolet (UV) properties of dwarf galaxies in the Ursa Major cluster comparing with those in the Virgo cluster. We have constructed SDSS DR7/GALEX GR5 matched optical/UV catalog for dwarf galaxies with various morphologies in these two clusters. Membership of galaxies belonging to the Ursa Major cluster was made by hierarchical grouping method using SDSS spectroscopic data. We classified morphologies of dwarf galaxies using the combination of visual inspection of the images and spectral features returned from SDSS data. In contrast to the case of the Virgo cluster, majority of dwarf galaxies in the Ursa Major cluster lies in the blue cloud of the UV color-magnitude relations (CMRs) implying strong recent or on-going star formation. We discuss the cluster environment on the star formation history and evolution of dwarf galaxies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.65.3-66
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• 2020

We use the IllustrisTNG cosmological hydrodynamical simulation to study the evolution of star formation rate (SFR)-density relation over cosmic time. We construct several samples of galaxies at different redshifts from z=2.0 to z=0.0, which have the same comoving number density. The SFR of galaxies decreases with local density at z=0.0, but its dependence on local density becomes weaker with redshift. At z≳1.0, the SFR of galaxies increases with local density (reversal of the SFR-density relation), and its dependence becomes stronger with redshift. This change of SFR-density relation with redshift still remains even when fixing the stellar masses of galaxies. The dependence of SFR on the distance to a galaxy cluster also shows a change with redshift in a way similar to the case based on local density, but the reversal happens at a higher redshift, z~1.5, in clusters. On the other hand, the molecular gas fraction always decreases with local density regardless of redshift at z=0.0-2.0 even though the dependence becomes weaker when we fix the stellar mass. Our study demonstrates that the observed reversal of the SFR-density relation at z≳1.0 can be successfully reproduced in cosmological simulations. Our results are consistent with the idea that massive, star-forming galaxies are strongly clustered at high redshifts, forming larger structures. These galaxies then consume their gas faster than those in low-density regions through frequent interactions with other galaxies, ending up being quiescent in the local universe.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.65.1-65.1
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• 2014

We present Palomar/SWIFT integral field spectroscopy of z~0.2 strong $H{\alpha}$ emitters identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The large Halpha equivalent widths as well as the huge specific star formation rates of these galaxies are comparable with that of z>4 Lyman break galaxies, thus understanding the gas kinematics and the distribution of massive stars in these systems will help to obtain a better understanding of high-redshift star forming environments and the growth of massive galaxies. We measure the velocity dispersion across the entire galaxy, estimate the number density and the spatial distribution of massive stars from the emission line morphologies. The role of minor mergers in powering star formation is investigated as an alternative to cold flow driven star formation.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.35.2-35.2
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• 2020

Submillimeter galaxies (SMGs) have played an important role in the understanding of galaxy evolution and cosmic star formation history at high redshift because they are known as being located at z ~ 2 and harbor a vigorous star formation. Therefore studying properties of SMGs can lead us to understand evolution of massive and actively star forming galaxies and distribution of cosmic star formation density. Recently we detected 548 SMGs near North Ecliptic Pole with JCMT/SCUBA-2 from the JCMT large program covering about 2 deg2 so far. To derive their physical parameters, we compiled a multi-wavelength photometry ranging from optical (0.3 ㎛) to submillimeter (850 ㎛) by cross-identifying counterparts at different wavelengths. In order to find counterparts, we used either VLA-1.4 GHz image and/or Spitzer/IRAC 3.6 ㎛, 4.5 ㎛ image. The number of SMGs with relatively robust counterparts is 349. In this talk, we present photometric redshifts, stellar mass, star formation rates, total infrared luminosity, and AGN fraction of these 349 SMGs derived through SED fitting analysis.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.34.2-35
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• 2018

Galaxy transition from star-forming to quiescent, accompanied with morphology transformation, is one of the key unresolved issues in extragalactic astronomy. Although several environmental mechanisms have been proposed, a deeper understanding of the impact of environment on galaxy transition still requires much exploration. My Ph.D. thesis focuses on which environmental mechanisms are primarily responsible for galaxy transition in different environments and looks at what happens during the transition phase using multi-wavelength photometric/spectroscopic data, from UV to mid-infrared (MIR), derived from several large surveys (GALEX, SDSS, and WISE) and our GMOS-North IFU observations. Our multi-wavelength approach provides new insights into the *late* stages of galaxy transition with a definition of the MIR green valley different from the optical green valley. I will present highlights from three areas in my thesis. First, through an in-depth study of environmental dependence of various properties of galaxies in a nearby supercluster A2199 (Lee et al. 2015), we found that the star formation of galaxies is quenched before the galaxies enter the MIR green valley, which is driven mainly by strangulation. Then, the morphological transformation from late- to early-type galaxies occurs in the MIR green valley. The main environmental mechanisms for the morphological transformation are galaxy-galaxy mergers and interactions that are likely to happen in high-density regions such as galaxy groups/clusters. After the transformation, early-type MIR green valley galaxies keep the memory of their last star formation for several Gyr until they move on to the next stage for completely quiescent galaxies. Second, compact groups (CGs) of galaxies are the most favorable environments for galaxy interactions. We studied MIR properties of galaxies in CGs and their environmental dependence (Lee et al. 2017), using a sample of 670 CGs identified using a friends-of-friends algorithms. We found that MIR [3.4]-[12] colors of CG galaxies are, on average, bluer than those of cluster galaxies. As CGs are located in denser regions, they tend to have larger early-type galaxy fractions and bluer MIR color galaxies. These trends can also be seen for neighboring galaxies around CGs. However, CG members always have larger early-type fractions and bluer MIR colors than their neighboring galaxies. These results suggest that galaxy evolution is faster in CGs than in other environments and that CGs are likely to be the best place for pre-processing. Third, post-starburst galaxies (PSBs) are an ideal laboratory to investigate the details of the transition phase. Their spectra reveal a phase of vigorous star formation activity, which is abruptly ended within the last 1 Gyr. Numerical simulations predict that the starburst, and thus the current A-type stellar population, should be localized within the galaxy's center (< kpc). Yet our GMOS IFU observations show otherwise; all five PSBs in our sample have Hdelta absorption line profiles that extend well beyond the central kpc. Most interestingly, we found a negative correlation between the Hdelta gradient slopes and the fractions of the stellar mass produced during the starburst, suggesting that stronger starbursts are more centrally-concentrated. I will discuss the results in relation with the origin of PSBs.