• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.111-116
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• 2012

Far-infrared observations provide crucial data for the investigation and characterisation of the properties of dusty material in the Interstellar Medium (ISM), since most of its energy is emitted between ~ 100 and $200{\mu}m$. We present the first all-sky image from a sensitive all-sky survey using the Japanese AKARI satellite, in the wavelength range $50-180{\mu}m$. Covering > 99% of the sky in four photometric bands with four filters centred at $65{\mu}m$, $90{\mu}m$, $140{\mu}m$, and $160{\mu}m$ wavelengths, this achieved spatial resolutions from 1 to 2 arcmin and a detection limit of < 10 MJy $sr^{-1}$, with absolute and relative photometric accuracies of < 20%. All-sky images of the Galactic dust continuum emission enable astronomers to map the large-scale distribution of the diffuse ISM cirrus, to study its thermal dust temperature, emissivity and column density, and to measure the interaction of the Galactic radiation field and embedded objects with the surrounding ISM. In addition to the point source population of stars, protostars, star-forming regions, and galaxies, the high Galactic latitude sky is shown to be covered with a diffuse filamentary-web of dusty emission that traces the potential sites of high latitude star formation. We show that the temperature of dust particles in thermal equilibrium with the ambient interstellar radiation field can be estimated by using $90{\mu}m$, $140{\mu}m$, and $160{\mu}m$ data. The FIR AKARI full-sky maps provide a rich new data set within which astronomers can investigate the distribution of interstellar matter throughout our Galaxy, and beyond.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.347-352
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• 2012

Understanding infrared (IR) luminosity is fundamental to understanding the cosmic star formation history and AGN evolution, since their most intense stages are often obscured by dust. Japanese infrared satellite, AKARI, provided unique data sets to probe this both at low and high redshifts. The AKARI performed an all sky survey in 6 IR bands (9, 18, 65, 90, 140, and $160{\mu}m$) with 3-10 times better sensitivity than IRAS, covering the crucial far-IR wavelengths across the peak of the dust emission. Combined with a better spatial resolution, AKARI can measure the total infrared luminosity ($L_{TIR}$) of individual galaxies much more precisely, and thus, the total infrared luminosity density of the local Universe. In the AKARI NEP deep field, we construct restframe $8{\mu}m$, $12{\mu}m$, and total infrared (TIR) luminosity functions (LFs) at 0.15 < z < 2.2 using 4,128 infrared sources. A continuous filter coverage in the mid-IR wavelength (2.4, 3.2, 4.1, 7, 9, 11, 15, 18, and $24{\mu}m$) by the AKARI satellite allows us to estimate restframe $8{\mu}m$ and $12{\mu}m$ luminosities without using a large extrapolation based on a SED fit, which was the largest uncertainty in previous work. By combining these two results, we reveal dust-hidden cosmic star formation history and AGN evolution from z = 0 to z = 2.2, all probed by the AKARI satellite.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.70.2-71
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• 2021

We examine gas kinematics and star formation activities of NGC 6822, a gas-rich dwarf irregular galaxy in the Local Group at a distance of ~490 kpc. We perform profile decomposition of all the line-of-sight (LOS) HI velocity profiles of the high-resolution (42.4" × 12" spatial; 1.6 km/s spectral) HI data cube of the galaxy, taken with the Australian Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). To this end, we use a novel tool based on Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques, the so-called BAYGAUD, which allows us to decompose a velocity profile into an optimal number of Gaussian components in a quantitative manner. We group all the decomposed components into bulk-narrow, bulk-broad, and non-bulk gas components classified with respect to their velocity dispersions and the amounts of velocity offset from the global kinematics, respectively. Using the surface densities and velocity dispersions of the kinematically decomposed HI gas maps together with the rotation curve of NGC 6822, we derive Toomre-Q parameters for individual regions of the galaxy which quantify the level of local gravitational instability of the gaseous disk. We also measure the local star formation rate (SFR) of the corresponding regions in the galaxy by combining GALEX Far-ultraviolet (FUV) and WISE 22㎛ images. We then relate the gas and SFR surface densities in order to investigate the local Kennicutt-Schmidt (K-S) law of gravitationally unstable regions which are selected from the Toomre Q analysis. Of the three groups, the bulk-narrow, bulk-broad and non-bulk gas components, we find that the lower Toomre-Q values the bulk-narrow gas components have, the more consistent with the linear extension of the K-S law derived from molecular hydrogen (H2) observations.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.61.4-62
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• 2020

We present H I gas kinematics and star formation activities of NGC 6822, a dwarf galaxy located in the Local Volume at a distance of ~490 kpc. We perform profile decomposition of the line-of-sight velocity profiles of the high-resolution (~42.4" × 12") spatial; ~1.6 km/s spectral) H I data cube taken with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA). For this, we use a new tool, the so-called BAYGAUD (BAYesian GAUssian Decompositor) which is based on Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques, allowing us to decompose a line-of-sight velocity profile into an optimal number of Gaussian components in a quantitative manner. We classify the decomposed H I gas components of NGC 6822 into kinematically cold, warm or hot ones with respect to their velocity dispersion: 1) cold: < 4 km/s, 2) warm: 4 ~ 8 km/s, 3) hot: > 8 km/s. We then derive the Toomre-Q parameters of NGC 6822 using the kinematically decomposed H I gas maps. We also correlate their gas surface densities with the surface star formation rates derived using both GALEX far-ultraviolet and WISE 22 micron data to examine the impact of gas turbulence caused by stellar feedback on the Kennicutt-Schmidt (K-S) law. The kinematically cold component is likely to better follow the linear extension of the Kennicutt-Schmidt (K-S) law for molecular hydrogen (H2) at the low gas surface density regime where H I is not saturated.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.297-298
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• 2012

ANIR (Atacama Near InfraRed camera) is a near infrared camera for the University of Tokyo Atacama 1m telescope, installed at the summit of Co. Chajnantor (5,640 m altitude) in northern Chile. The high altitude and extremely low water vapor (PWV = 0.5 mm) of the site enable us to perform observation of hydrogen $Pa{\alpha}$ emission line at $1.8751{\mu}m$. Since its first light observation in June 2009, we have been carrying out a $Pa{\alpha}$ narrow-band imaging survey of nearby luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs), and have obtained $Pa{\alpha}$ for 38 nearby LIRGs listed in AKARI/FIS-PSC at the velocity of recession between 2,800 km/s and 8,100 km/s. LIRGs are affected by a large amount of dust extinction ($A_V$~ 3 mag), produced by their active star formation activities. Because $Pa{\alpha}$ is the strongest hydrogen recombination line in the infrared wavelength ranges, it is a good and direct tracer of dust-enshrouded star forming regions, and enables us to probe the star formation activities in LIRGs. We find that LIRGs have two star-forming modes. The origin of the two modes probably come from differences between merging stage and/or star-forming process.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.70.1-70.1
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• 2013

New space program for "Next-Generation Small Satellite (NEXTSat)" launched last year after the success of the series of Science & Technology Satellite (STSAT). KASI proposed the near-infrared imaging spectrometer as a scientific payload onboard NEXTSat-1. It was selected as one of two scientific payloads. The approved scientific payload is the near-infrared imaging spectrometer for the study of star formation history (NISS). The efficient near-infrared observation can be performed in space by evading the atmospheric emission as well as other thermal noise. The observation of cosmic near-infrared background enables us to reveal the early Universe in an indirect way through the measurement of absolute brightness and spatial fluctuation. The detection of near-infrared spectral lines in nearby galaxies, cluster of galaxies and star forming regions give us less biased information on the star formation. In addition, the NISS will be expected to demonstrate our technologies related to the development of the Korea's leading near-infrared instrument for the future large infrared telescope, SPICA.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.69-80
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• 2009

We investigate the dependence of star formation rate and Active Galaxy Nuclei (AGN) frequency on the bar properties, especially the bar strength, using SDSS DR6. To better represent the bar strength, we divided the bars into 6 classes according to their length and axial ratios. There seems to be a fairly good correlation between the star formation rate derived from $H{\alpha}$ emission lines and the bar strength, whereas there is no apparent correlation between the AGN activity and the bar strength. We interpret that the former correlation is due to the dependence of bar-driven gas inflow on the strength of bar. The lack of correlation between AGN and bar properties suggests that the accretion of gas onto a supermassive black hole (SMBH) is regulated by the interplay between the bar and SMBH. The frequency of AGN seems to be dependent on the background density but the star formation rate does not. It suggests that star formation is a localized phenomenon that is mostly determined by the gas density in a galaxy, while AGN activity is more closely related to the host property such as mass and luminosity that are thought to be dependent on the environment through the density-luminosity relation.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.427-431
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• 2004

We use simulations of large-scale structure formation to study the build-up of magnetic fields (MFs) in the intergalactic medium. Our basic assumption is that cosmological MFs grow in a magnetohy-drodynamical (MHD) amplification process driven by structure formation out of a magnetic seed field present at high redshift. This approach is motivated by previous simulations of the MFs in galaxy clusters which, under the same hypothesis that we adopt here, succeeded in reproducing Faraday rotation measurements (RMs) in clusters of galaxies. Our ACDM initial conditions for the dark matter density fluctuations have been statistically constrained by the observed large-scale density field within a sphere of 110 Mpc around the Milky Way, based on the IRAS 1.2-Jy all-sky redshift survey. As a result, the positions and masses of prominent galaxy clusters in our simulation coincide closely with their real counterparts in the Local Universe. We find excellent agreement between RMs of our simulated galaxy clusters and observational data. The improved numerical resolution of our simulations compared to previous work also allows us to study the MF in large-scale filaments, sheets and voids. By tracing the propagation of ultra high energy (UHE) protons in the simulated MF we construct full-sky maps of expected deflection angles of protons with arrival energies $E = 10^{20}\;eV$ and $4 {\times} 10^{19}\;eV$, respectively. Accounting only for the structures within 110 Mpc, we find that strong deflections are only produced if UHE protons cross galaxy clusters. The total area on the sky covered by these structures is however very small. Over still larger distances, multiple crossings of sheets and filaments may give rise to noticeable deflections over a significant fraction of the sky; the exact amount and angular distribution depends on the model adopted for the magnetic seed field. Based on our results we argue that over a large fraction of the sky the deflections are likely to remain smaller than the present experimental angular sensitivity. Therefore, we conclude that forthcoming air shower experiments should be able to locate sources of UHE protons and shed more light on the nature of cosmological MFs.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.76-76
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• 2013

The current hierarchical model of galaxy formation predicts that galaxy halos contain merger relics in the form of long stellar streams. In order to find stellar substructures in galaxy, we focused our investigation on the stellar spatial density around globular clusters and on the quantitative properties of the evolved sequences in the color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). First, we investigated the spatial configuration of stars around five metal-poor globular clusters in halo region (M15, M30, M53, NGC 5053, and NGC 5466) and one metal-poor globular cluster in bulge region (NGC 6626). Our findings indicate that all of these globular clusters show strong evidence of extratidal features in the form of extended tidal tails around the clusters. The orientations of the extratidal features show the signatures of tidal tails tracing the clusters' orbits and the effects of dynamical interactions with the galaxy. These features were also confirmed by the radial surface density profiles and azimuthal number density profiles. Our results suggest that these six globular clusters are potentially associated with the satellite galaxies merged into the Milky Way. Second, we derived the morphological parameters of the red giant branch (RGB) from the near-infrared CMDs of 12 metal-poor globular clusters in the Galactic bulge. The photometric RGB shape indices such as colors at fixed magnitudes, magnitudes at fixed colors, and the RGB slope were measured for each cluster. The magnitudes of the RGB bump and tip were also estimated. The derived RGB parameters were used to examine the overall behavior of the RGB morphology as a function of cluster metallicity. The behavior of the RGB shape parameters was also compared with the previous observational calibration relation and theoretical predictions of the Yonsei-Yale isochrones. Our results of studies for stellar spatial distribution around globular clusters and the morphological properties of RGB stars in globular clusters could add further observational evidence of merging scenario of galaxy formation.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.217-234
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• 2011

We present two large cosmological N-body simulations, called Horizon Run 2 (HR2) and Horizon Run 3 (HR3), made using $6000^3$ = 216 billions and $7210^3$ = 374 billion particles, spanning a volume of $(7.200\;h^{-1}Gpc)^3$ and $(10.815\;h^{-1}Gpc)^3$, respectively. These simulations improve on our previous Horizon Run 1 (HR1) up to a factor of 4.4 in volume, and range from 2600 to over 8800 times the volume of the Millennium Run. In addition, they achieve a considerably finer mass resolution, down to $1.25{\times}10^{11}h^{-1}M_{\odot}$, allowing to resolve galaxy-size halos with mean particle separations of $1.2h^{-1}$Mpc and $1.5h^{-1}$Mpc, respectively. We have measured the power spectrum, correlation function, mass function and basic halo properties with percent level accuracy, and verified that they correctly reproduce the CDM theoretical expectations, in excellent agreement with linear perturbation theory. Our unprecedentedly large-volume N-body simulations can be used for a variety of studies in cosmology and astrophysics, ranging from large-scale structure topology, baryon acoustic oscillations, dark energy and the characterization of the expansion history of the Universe, till galaxy formation science - in connection with the new SDSS-III. To this end, we made a total of 35 all-sky mock surveys along the past light cone out to z = 0.7 (8 from the HR2 and 27 from the HR3), to simulate the BOSS geometry. The simulations and mock surveys are already publicly available at http://astro.kias.re.kr/Horizon-Run23/.