• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.26-26
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• 2010

Gravitationally bound objects in the universe have been a main target of astronomers for long. However, some objects in the universe may want to be free, as we do. Recently we are witnessing the existence of some globular clusters wandering in the nearby universe. The nature and origin of these wandering globular clusters are not yet known. With the advent of giant telescopes they will be an excellent tool for various fields of research including first stars, star clusters, galaxies, and galaxy clusters.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.127-140
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• 1998

With a large format near-infrared camera at the 2.2-m telescope on Mauna Kea Observatory, we performed J K near-infrared observations for the metal rich globular cluster NGC6712. This cluster lies near the galactic plane and therefore suffers heavy reddening. We present the near-infrared color-magnitude diagram and also derive the metallicity ([Fe/H] ${\~}-0.96{\pm}0.27$) as well as its distance modulus ((m - M) ${\~}13.42{\pm}0.12$).

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.169-172
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• 2005

The simulation of Hydraulic pressure distribution of discharge tube with globular beads and the removal characteristic of Escherichia coli by the discharge tube with globular beads were estimated. The removal characteristic of Escherichia coli was related to the input voltage because the electric field is increased according to input voltage. As the passing amount of test water in discharge tube is increased, the removal ratio of Escherichia coli was increased because passing numbers of electric field section is increased.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.81-99
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• 1989

Applying five morphological parameters defined along the main sequence (MS), red giant branch (RGB) and horizontal branch (HB) in the C-M diagram (CMD), and the transition period-luminosity relation for RR Lyrae variables, some basic physical quantities such as helium abundance, age, mass and luminosity are determined for 21 well observed globular clusters with combination of evolutionary models and atmospheric models properly chosen by the numerical test. The dependences of these quantities on the age and chemical abundance are investigated.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.147.1-147.1
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• 2012

We present empirical fiducial sequences for horizontal-branch (HB) stars in a set of bright Galactic globular clusters previously observed in SDSS (An et al. 2008). Mean loci of HB stars are derived on color-magnitude diagrams with multiple color indices (u - g, g - r, g - i, and g - z ) in order to identify foreground/background objects as well as cluster RR Lyrae variables. We compare our fiducial sequences to the model predictions from Yonsei-Yale isochrones and test the accuracy of the stellar evolution models.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.36-36
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• 2013

Globular clusters (GCs) are among the oldest stellar objects in the universe and provide valuable constraints on many aspects of galaxy evolution. GC systems typically exhibit bimodal color distributions the phenomenon of which has been a major topic in the area of GC research. GC color bimodality established a paradigm where scenarios to explain its origin require two GC groups with different formation origins. The GC division, asserted mainly by photometric color bimodality so far, has been viewed as the presence of two distinct metallicity subgroups within individual galaxies. In this study, we make use of spectroscopy of GC systems associated with two giant galaxies, M31 (the Andromeda) and M87 (NGC 4486), to investigate the GC bimodality and the underlying metallicity distributions. Recent spectroscopy on the globular cluster (GC) system of M31 with unprecedented precision witnessed a clear bimodality in absorption-line index distributions of old GCs. Given that spectroscopy is a more detailed probe into stellar population than photometry; the discovery of index bimodality may point to the very existence of dual GC populations. However, here we show that the observed spectroscopic dichotomy of M31 GCs emerges due to the nonlinear nature of metallicity-to-index conversion and thus one does not necessarily have to invoke two separate GC subsystems. We present spectra of 130 old globular clusters (GCs) associated with the Virgo giant elliptical galaxy M87, obtained using the Multi-Object Spectrography (MOS) mode of Faint Object Camera and Spectrograph (FOCAS) on the Subaru telescope. M87 GCs with reliable metallicity measurements exhibit significant inflection along the color-metallicity relations, through which observed color bimodality is reproduced from a broad, unimodal metallicity distribution. Our findings lend further support to this new interpretation of the GC color bimodality, which could change much of the current thought on the formation of GC systems and their host galaxies.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.38.1-38.1
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• 2008

Tides caused by the Galactic gravitational field affect the current dynamical structure of globular clusters in the Galaxy. Indeed, the observed feature of tidal tails stretching beyond globular clusters' tidal radii provides a key information of interaction with the gravitational field of the Galaxy and kinematical orbit of the clusters, which can be an evidence of the merging scenario of the Galaxy formation and evolution. To find such a tidal feature, we have studied spatial density distribution of stars around five globular clusters in the Galactic halo and one cluster in the Galactic bulge, for which we have used wide-field deep photometric data of gri and JHK bands obtained from the MegaCam and WIRCam of the CFHT. Applying the statistical contrast filtering of field stars in the color-magnitude plane of detected stars around five halo clusters, we have found features of tidal tails for four clusters M53, M15, NGC 5053, and NGC 5466. The detected over-density tidal features are well aligned with the cluster's orbits and stretched into the direction of the Galactic center. Statistical analysis indicate that these tidal tails are believed to be cluster stars that have escaped due to the tidal effects to the clusters. A similar tidal feature to that of halo clusters is also detected for the bulge cluster NGC 6626, while the over-density feature seems to be extended into the Galactic plane rather than into the orbital direction and the Galactic center. Conclusively, our result adds further observational evidence of the merging scenario of the Galaxy formation and evolution.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.203-224
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• 2013

Wide-field $JHK_s$ images obtained with the SIRIUS near-infrared camera of the IRSF 1.4m telescope are used to examine the tidal structures of the spatial stellar configuration around six metal-poor ([Fe/H]< -1.0) globular clusters located within 3 kpc from the Galactic center. The radial surface density profiles are obtained from the surface photometry of the cluster images and the star counting for the photometric data. For the star counting, candidates of cluster member stars are selected with an filtering algorithm in color-magnitude diagrams. We find that the six target clusters show tidal overdensity features in the radial surface density profiles. There is a break inside the tidal radius for each cluster, and the profile in the outer overdensity region is characterized by a power law. Two-dimensional density maps of all the clusters show distorted asymmetric stellar configurations in the outer region. In five out of the six target clusters, the overdensity features are likely to be associated with the effects of the Galaxy dynamical interaction and the cluster space motions. The observed tidal configurations of stars suggest that several metal-poor clusters in the Galactic bulge are possibly surviving remnants of mergers to build the old stellar system of the Galactic bulge.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.30.2-30.2
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• 2009

There is a growing body of evidence for the presence of multiple stellar populations in some globular clusters, including NGC 1851. For most of these peculiar globular clusters, however, the evidence for the multiple red giant-branches (RGBs) having different heavy elemental abundances as observed in $\omega$ Centauri is hitherto lacking, although spreads in some lighter elements are reported. It is therefore not clear whether they also share the suggested dwarf galaxy origin of $\omega$ Cen or not. Here we show from the CTIO 4m UVI photometry of the globular cluster NGC 1851 that its RGB is clearly split into two in the U - I color. The two distinct RGB populations are also clearly separated in the abundance of heavy elements as traced by Calcium, suggesting that the type II supernovae enrichment is also responsible, in addition to the pollutions of lighter elements by intermediate mass asymptotic giant branch stars or fast-rotating massive stars. The RGB split, however, is not shown in the V - I color, as indicated by previous observations. Our stellar population models show that this and the presence of bimodal horizontal-branch distribution in NGC 1851 can be naturally reproduced if the metal-rich second generation stars are also enhanced in helium.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.255-259
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• 2015

Recent narrow-band Ca photometry discovered two distinct red giant branch (RGB) populations in some massive globular clusters (GCs) including M22, NGC 1851, and NGC 288. In order to investigate the differences in light/heavy elements abundances between the two subpopulations, we have performed low-resolution spectroscopy for stars on the two RGBs in these GCs. We find a significant difference (more than $4{\sigma}$) in calcium abundance from the spectroscopic HK' index for both M22 and NGC 1851. We also find a more than $8{\sigma}$ difference in CN band strength between the Ca-strong and Ca-weak subpopulations. For NGC 288, however, we detect the presence of a large difference only in the CN strength. The calcium abundances of the two subpopulations in this GC are identical within errors. We also find interesting differences in CN-CH relations among these GCs. While CN and CH indices are correlated in M22, they show an anti-correlation in NGC 288. However, NGC 1851 shows no difference in CH between two groups of stars having different CN strengths. The CN bimodality in these GCs could be explained by pollution from intermediate-mass asymptotic giant branch stars and/or fast-rotating massive stars. For the presence or absence of calcium bimodality and the differences in CN-CH relations, we suggest these would be best explained by how strongly type II supernovae enrichment has contributed to the chemical evolutions of these GCs.