• 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.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.135-139
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• 2017

We have performed systematic studies of the properties of dust in various environments of nearby galaxies with AKARI. The unique capabilities of AKARI, such as near-infrared (near-IR) spectroscopy combined with all-sky coverage in the mid- and far-IR, enable us to study processing of dust, particularly carbonaceous grains includings polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), for unbiased samples of nearby galaxies. In this paper, we first review our recent results on individual galaxies, highlighting the uniqueness of AKARI data for studies of nearby galaxies. Then we present results of our systematic studies on nearby starburst and early-type galaxies. From the former study based on the near-IR spectroscopy and mid-IR all-sky survey data, we find that the properties of PAHs change systematically from IR galaxies to ultraluminous IR galaxies, depending on the IR luminosity of a galaxy or galaxy population. From the latter study based on the mid- and far-IR all-sky survey data, we find that there is a global correlation between the amounts of dust and old stars in early-type galaxies, giving an observational constraint on the origin of the dust.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.65-65
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• 2011

Early-type galaxies represent the end point of galaxy evolution and, despite pervasive residual star formation, are generally considered "red and dead", that is composed exclusively of old stars with no star formation. Here, their molecular gas content is constrained and discussed in relation to their evolution, supporting the continuing importance of minor mergers and/or cold gas accretion. First, as part of the Atlas3D survey, the first complete, large, volume-limited survey of CO in normal early-type galaxies is presented. At least of 23% of local early-types possess a substantial amount of molecular gas, the necessary ingredient for star formation, independent of mass and environment but dependent on the specific stellar angular momentum. Second, using CO synthesis imaging, the extent of the molecular gas is constrained and a variety of morphologies is revealed. The kinematics of the molecular gas and stars are often misaligned, implying an external gas origin in over a third of all systems, more than half in the field, while external gas accretion must be shot down in clusters. Third, many objects appear to be in the process of forming regular kpc-size decoupled disks, and a star formation sequence can be sketched by piecing together multi-wavelength information on the molecular gas, current star formation, and young stars. Fourth, early-type galaxies do not seem to systematically obey all our usual prejudices regarding star formation (e.g. Schmidt-Kennicutt law, far infrared-radio continuum correlation), suggesting a greater diversity in star formation processes than observed in disk galaxies and the possibility of "morphological quenching". Lastly, a first step toward constraining the physical properties of the molecular gas is taken, by modeling the line ratios of density- and opacity-sensitive molecules in a few objects. Taken together, these observations argue for the continuing importance of (minor) mergers and cold gas accretion in local early-types, and they provide a much greater understanding of the gas cycle in the galaxies harbouring most of the stellar mass. In the future, better dust masses and dust-to-gas mass ratios from Herschel should allow to place entirely independent constraints on the gas supply, while spatially-resolved high-density molecular gas tracers observed with ALMA will probe the interstellar medium and star formation laws locally in a regime entirely different from that normally probed in spiral galaxies.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.113-116
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• 2017

A significant number of the parameters of a gamma-ray burst (GRB) and its host galaxy are calculated from the afterglow. There are various methods obtaining extinction values for the necessary correction for galactic foreground. These are: galaxy counts, from HI 21 cm surveys, from spectroscopic measurements and colors of nearby Galactic stars, or using extinction maps calculated from infrared surveys towards the GRB. We demonstrate that AKARI Far-Infrared Surveyor sky surface brightness maps are useful uncovering the fine structure of the galactic foreground of GRBs. Galactic cirrus structures of a number of GRBs are calculated with a 2 arcminute resolution, and the results are compared to that of other methods.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.151-153
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• 2017

Early-type galaxies (ETGs) are generally dominated by old low-mass stars, which are not very productive of dust, and hot interstellar plasmas, which are very destructive of dust. Thus ETGs provide harsh environments for survival of dust. It has been found that some ETGs contain a large amount of dust, and yet its supply mechanism is not understood well. We present the result of a systematic study of dust in ETGs with the AKARI mid- and far-infrared all-sky surveys. From the AKARI result and the Ks band data obtained by ground-based telescopes, we find that there is a global correlation between the dust mass and stellar luminosity. We also compare the AKARI all-sky survey result with the CO data to discuss origins of dust in ETGs.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.243-248
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• 2012

Nearby spiral galaxies M101 and M81 are considered to have undergone a galaxy-galaxy interaction. M101 has experienced HI gas infall due to the interaction. With AKARI far-infrared (IR) photometric observations, we found regions with enhanced star forming activity, which are spatially close to regions affected by the interaction. In addition, the relation between the star formation rate (SFR) and the gas content for such regions shows a significant difference from typical spiral arm regions. We discuss possible explanations for star formation processes on a kiloparsec scale and the association with interaction-triggered star formation. We also observed the compact group of galaxies Stephan's Quintet (SQ) with the AKARI Far-infrared Surveyor (FIS). The SQ shows diffuse intergalactic medium (IGM) due to multiple collisions between the member galaxies and the IGM. The intruder galaxy NGC 7318b is currently colliding with the IGM and causes a large-scale shock. The 160 micron image clearly shows the structure along the shock ridge as seen in warm molecular hydrogen line emission and X-ray emission. The far-IR emission from the shocked region comes from the luminous [CII]$158{\mu}m$ line and cold dust (~ 20 K) that coexist with molecular hydrogen gas. Survival of dust grains is indispensable to form molecular hydrogen gas within the collision age (~ 5 Myr). At the stage of the dusty IGM environment, [CII] and $H_2$ lines rather than X-ray emission are powerful cooling channels to release the collision energy.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.76.3-76.3
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• 2019

Intracluster stars are believed to be gravitationally bound to a galaxy cluster, however, not to individual cluster galaxies. Their presence is observed as diffuse light typically in the central region extended from the brightest cluster galaxy. The diffuse light, often referred to as intracluster light (ICL), is difficult to quantify in distant high-redshift galaxy clusters because of the significant surface brightness dimming although ICL observations in high-redshift clusters provide powerful constraints on the origin of intracluster stars. In this poster, we present ICL study of the distant galaxy cluster SPT2106-5844 at z=1.132 with Hubble Space Telescope IR imaging data. With careful control of systematics, we successfully quantify the total amount of the ICL, measure the color profile, and obtain its two-dimensional distribution. Our measurement of the high abundance of the intracluster stars in this young cluster favors the ICL formation scenario, wherein production of intracluster stars are predominantly associated with the BCG formation.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.121-137
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• 2008

We present optical and near-infrared imaging and long-slit spectroscopy for the blue compact dwarf galaxy (BCD) Mrk 49 in the Virgo Cluster. The surface brightness distribution analysis shows that Mrk 49 consists of an off-centered blue bright compact core of r = 10" and a red faint outer exponential envelope. The $H_{\alpha}$ image and color difference suggest that these two components have different stellar populations: a high surface brightness population of massive young stars and an underlying low surface brightness population of older stars. The redder near-infrared colors of the inner most region suggest that the near-infrared flux of Mrk 49 originates from evolved massive stars associated with the current star-forming activity. The total apparent magnitude is $B_T\;=\;14.32$ mag and the mean effective surface brightness is ${\mu}_{eff}(B)\;=\;21.56$ mag $arcsec^{-2}$. Long-slit spectroscopy shows that Mrk 49 rotates apparently as a solid body within r = 10" in a plane at position angle 55 degrees with an amplitude of about $20\;km\;sec^{-1}$. The measured radial velocity of Mrk 49 was derived as $1,535\;km\;sec^{-1}$; and the total mass of stars and gases is in the range of 3 to $6\;{\times}\;10^9\;M_{\odot}$. The mass-to-light ratios for the central region of Mrk 49 in I and B band are estimated 1.0 and 0.5, respectively. The upper limit of the dark matter to visible matter ratio seems to be < 5. The oxygen abundance is $12\;+\;\log(O/H)\;=\;8.21\;{\pm}\; 0.1$ which is about one quarter of the solar value while the relative helium abundance appears to be similar to that of the sun.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.39.2-39.2
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• 2020

Based upon the previous heritage in the complete development of the infrared imaging spectrometer, NISS (Near-infrared Imaging Spectrometer for Star formation history) onboard NEXTSat-1, we are participating in the NASA MIDEX mission (PI Institute: Caltech), the all-sky infrared spectro-photometric surveyor SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer). The SPHEREx will provide us the first all-sky infrared spectro-photometric data set to probe the origin of our Universe, to explore the origin and evolution of galaxies, and to explore whether planets around other stars could harbor life. After the SPEHREx have passed the PDR (Preliminary Design Review) on this September, the fabrication of flight hardware will be started soon. As an international partner, KASI takes part in the hardware development, the operation and the science for the SPHEREx. Here, we report the status of the SPHEREx project and the progress in the Korean participation.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.183-187
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• 2015

We use ALLWISE data release W1- and W2-band epoch photometry collected by the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) to determine slopes of the period-luminosity relations for RR Lyrae stars in 15 globular clusters in the corresponding bands. We further combine these results with V- and K-band photometry of Galactic field RR Lyrae stars to determine the metallicity slopes of the log $P_F-[Fe/H]-M_K$, log $P_F-[Fe/H]-M_{W1}$, and log $P_F-[Fe/H]-M_{W2}$ period-metallicity-luminosity relations. We infer the zero points of these relations and determine the kinematical parameters of thick-disk and halo RR Lyraes via statistical parallax, and estimate the RR Lyrae-based distances to 18 Local-Group galaxies including the center of the Milky Way.