• 천문학회지
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• 제43권4호
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• pp.135-139
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• 2010

We present the result of our investigation on the impact of the low Solar abundance of Asplund and collaborators (2004) on the derived ages for the oldest star clusters based on isochrone fittings. We have constructed new stellar models and corresponding isochrones using this new solar mixture with a proper Solar calibration. We have found that the use of the Asplund et al. (2004) metallicity causes the typical ages for old globular clusters in the Milky Way to be increased roughly by 10%. Although this may appear small, it has a significant impact on the interpretation for the formation epoch of Milky Way globular clusters. The Asplund et al. (2004) abundance may not necessarily threaten the current concordance cosmology but would suggest that Milky Way globular clusters formed before the reionization epoch and before the main galaxy body starts to build up. This is in contrast to the current understanding on the galaxy formation.

• 천문학회지
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• 제48권1호
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• pp.9-20
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• 2015

We study the evolution of the energy spectrum of cosmic-ray electrons accelerated at spherically expanding shocks with low Mach numbers and the ensuing spectral signatures imprinted in radio synchrotron emission. Time-dependent simulations of diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) of electrons in the test-particle limit have been performed for spherical shocks with parameters relevant for typical shocks in the intracluster medium. The electron and radiation spectra at the shock location can be described properly by the test-particle DSA predictions with instantaneous shock parameters. However, the volume integrated spectra of both electrons and radiation deviate significantly from the test-particle power-laws, because the shock compression ratio and the flux of injected electrons at the shock gradually decrease as the shock slows down in time. So one needs to be cautious about interpreting observed radio spectra of evolving shocks based on simple DSA models in the test-particle regime.

• 천문학회지
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• 제46권2호
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• pp.93-96
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• 2013

Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) is a possible solution for the missing mass problem in galactic dynamics; its predictions are in good agreement with observations in the limit of weak accelerations. However, MOND does not derive from a physical mechanism and does not make predictions on the transitional regime from Newtonian to modified dynamics; rather, empirical transition functions have to be constructed from the boundary conditions and comparisons with observations. I compare the formalism of classical MOND to the scaling law derived from a toy model of gravity based on virtual massive gravitons (the "graviton picture") which I proposed recently. I conclude that MOND naturally derives from the "graviton picture" at least for the case of non-relativistic, highly symmetric dynamical systems. This suggests that-to first order-the "graviton picture" indeed provides a valid candidate for the physical mechanism behind MOND and gravity on galactic scales in general.

• 천문학회보
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• 제39권1호
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• pp.42.1-42.1
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• 2014

A gravitational weak-lensing map provides a weighted "picture" of the projected surface mass density and is to be an important tool for identifying "mass-selected" clusters of galaxies. However, weak-lensing maps have a limitation due to the projection of large-sclae structure along the line-of-sight. Geller et al. (2010) and Kurtz et al. (2012) compared massive clusters identified in a dense redshift survey with significant weak-lensing map convergence peaks. Both assessments of the efficiency of weak-lensing map for cluster identification did not draw a general conclusion, because the sample is so small. Thus, we additionally perform deep imaging observations of fields in a dense galaxy redshift survey that contain galaxy clusters at z~0.2-0.5, using CFHT Megacam. Our study will provide an important opportunity to examine the efficiency and completeness of a weak-lensing selection, and further to improve the method of cluster identification in future weak-lensing surveys.

• 천문학회지
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• 제45권6호
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• pp.147-156
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• 2012

We present a test of the emission statistics of active galactic nuclei (AGN), probing the connection between the red-noise temporal power spectra and multi-modal flux distributions known from observations. We simulate AGN lightcurves under the assumption of uniform stochastic emission processes for different power-law indices of their respective power spectra. For sufficiently shallow slopes (power-law indices (${\beta}{\leq}1$), the flux distributions (histograms) of the resulting lightcurves are approximately Gaussian. For indices corresponding to steeper slopes (${\beta}{\geq}1$), the flux distributions become multi-modal. This finding disagrees systematically with results of recent mm/radio observations. Accordingly, we conclude that the emission from AGN does not necessarily originate from uniform stochastic processes even if their power spectra suggest otherwise. Possible mechanisms include transitions between different activity states and/or the presence of multiple, spatially disconnected, emission regions.

• 천문학회지
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• 제47권5호
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• pp.167-178
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• 2014

We search for misclassified type 1 AGNs among type 2 AGNs identified with emission line flux ratios, and investigate the properties of the sample. Using 4 113 local type 2 AGNs at 0.02 < z < 0.05 selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7, we detected a broad component of the $H{\alpha}$ line with a Full-Width at Half-Maximum (FWHM) ranging from 1 700 to $19090km\;s^{-1}$ for 142 objects, based on the spectral decomposition and visual inspection. The fraction of the misclassified type 1 AGNs among type 2 AGN sample is ~3.5%, implying that a large number of missing type 1 AGN population may exist. The misclassified type 1 AGNs have relatively low luminosity with a mean broad $H{\alpha}$ luminosity, log $L_{H\alpha}=40.50{\pm}0.35\;erg\;s^{-1}$, while black hole mass of the sample is comparable to that of the local black hole population, with a mean black hole mass, log $M_{BH}=6.94{\pm}0.51\;M_{\odot}$. The mean Eddington ratio of the sample is log $L_{bol}/L_{Edd}=-2.00{\pm}0.40$, indicating that black hole activity is relatively weak, hence, AGN continuum is too weak to change the host galaxy color. We find that the O III lines show significant velocity offsets, presumably due to outflows in the narrow-line region, while the velocity offset of the narrow component of the $H{\alpha}$ line is not prominent, consistent with the ionized gas kinematics of general type 1 AGN population.

• 천문학회보
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• 제40권1호
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• pp.43.3-44
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• 2015

We analyze the clustering of large scale structure in the Universe in a model independent method, accounting for anisotropic effects along and transverse to the line of sight. A large sample of 690,000 galaxies from The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopy Survey Data Release 11 are used to determine the Hubble expansion H, angular distance D_A, and growth rate GT at an effective redshift of z=0.57. After careful bias and convergence studies of the effects from small scale clustering, we find that cutting transverse separations below 40 Mpc/h delivers robust results while smaller scale data leads to a bias due to unmodelled nonlinear and velocity effects. The converged results are in agreement with concordance LCDM cosmology, general relativity, and minimal neutrino mass, all within the $68{\backslash}%$ confidence level. We also present results separately for the northern and southern hemisphere sky, finding a slight tension in the growth rate -- potentially a signature of anisotropic stress, or just covariance with small scale velocities -- but within $68{\backslash}%$ CL.

• 천문학회지
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• 제37권5호
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• pp.605-609
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• 2004

We present a set of high-resolution 3D MHD simulations exploring the evolution of light, supersonic jets in cluster environments. We model sets of high- and low-Mach jets entering both uniform surroundings and King-type atmospheres and propagating distances more than 100 times the initial jet radius. Through complimentary analyses of synthetic observations and energy flow, we explore the detailed interactions between these jets and their environments. We find that jet cocoon morphology is strongly influenced by the structure of the ambient medium. Jets moving into uniform atmospheres have more pronounced backflow than their non-uniform counterparts, and this difference is clearly reflected by morphological differences in the synthetic observations. Additionally, synthetic observations illustrate differences in the appearances of terminal hotspots and the x-ray and radio correlations between the high- and low-Mach runs. Exploration of energy flow in these systems illustrates the general conversion of kinetic to thermal and magnetic energy in all of our simulations. Specifically, we examine conversion of energy type and the spatial transport of energy to the ambient medium. Determination of the evolution of the energy distribution in these objects will enhance our understanding of the role of AGN feedback in cluster environments.

• 천문학회지
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• 제53권3호
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• pp.59-67
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• 2020

We propose semi-analytic models for the electron momentum distribution in weak shocks that accounts for both in situ acceleration and re-acceleration through diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). In the former case, a small fraction of incoming electrons is assumed to be reflected at the shock ramp and pre-accelerated to the so-called injection momentum, p_inj, above which particles can diffuse across the shock transition and participate in the DSA process. This leads to the DSA power-law distribution extending from the smallest momentum of reflected electrons, p_ref, all the way to the cutoff momentum, p_eq, constrained by radiative cooling. In the latter case, fossil electrons, specified by a power-law spectrum with a cutoff, are assumed to be re-accelerated from p_ref up to p_eq via DSA. We show that, in the in situ acceleration model, the amplitude of radio synchrotron emission depends strongly on the shock Mach number, whereas it varies rather weakly in the re-acceleration model. Considering the rather turbulent nature of shocks in the intracluster medium, such extreme dependence for the in situ acceleration might not be compatible with the relatively smooth surface brightness of observed radio relics.

• 천문학회지
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• 제49권4호
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• pp.145-155
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• 2016

The Sausage radio relic is the arc-like radio structure in the cluster CIZA J2242.8+5301, whose observed properties can be best understood by synchrotron emission from relativistic electrons accelerated at a merger-driven shock. However, there remain a few puzzles that cannot be explained by the shock acceleration model with only in-situ injection. In particular, the Mach number inferred from the observed radio spectral index, M_radio ≈ 4.6, while the Mach number estimated from X-ray observations, M_X−ray ≈ 2.7. In an attempt to resolve such a discrepancy, here we consider the re-acceleration model in which a shock of M_s ≈ 3 sweeps through the intracluster gas with a pre-existing population of relativistic electrons. We find that observed brightness profiles at multi frequencies provide strong constraints on the spectral shape of pre-existing electrons. The models with a power-law momentum spectrum with the slope, s ≈ 4.1, and the cutoff Lorentz factor, γ_e,c ≈ 3−5×10⁴, can reproduce reasonably well the observed spatial profiles of radio fluxes and integrated radio spectrum of the Sausage relic. The possible origins of such relativistic electrons in the intracluster medium remain to be investigated further.