• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.22
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• pp.10.2-10.2
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• 1997

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.149-151
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• 2005

We have studied the environmental effect on optical-NIR color gradients of 273 nearby elliptical galaxies. Color gradient is a good tool to study the evolutionary history of elliptical galaxies, since the steepness of the color gradient reflects merging history of early types. When an elliptical galaxy goes through many merging events, the color gradient can be get less steep or reversed due to mixing of stars. One simple way to measure color gradient is to compare half-light radii in different bands. We have compared the optical and near infrared half-light radii of 273 early-type galaxies from Pahre (1999). Not surprisingly, we find that $r_e(V)s$ (half-light radii measured in V-band) are in general larger than $r_e(K)s$ (half-light radii measured in K-band). However, when divided into different environments, we find that elliptical galaxies in the denser environment have gentler color gradients than those in the less dense environment. Our finding suggests that elliptical galaxies in the dense environment have undergone many merging events and the mixing of stars through the merging have created the gentle color gradients.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.77.2-77.2
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• 2012

Infrared dark clouds(IRDCs) are believed to be the progenitors of massive stars and clusters. We obtained 350 and 850 ${\mu}m$ continuum maps of the IRDC G049.40-00.01 using SHARC-II on CSO. Twenty-one dense clumps were identified within G049.40-00.01 based on the 350 ${\mu}m$ continuum map with an angular resolution of about 9.6". We present submillimeter continuum maps and report physical properties of the clumps. The masses of clumps are from 50 to 600 solar mass. About 70% of the clumps are associated with bright 24 ${\mu}m$ emission sources indicating protostars. The most massive two clumps show enhanced, extended 4.5 ${\mu}m$ emission representing on-going star forming activity. The size-mass distribution of the clumps suggests that many of them are forming high-mass stars. G049.40-00.01 contains numerous objects in various evolutionary stages of star formation, from pre-stellar clumps to H II regions.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.41.2-41.2
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• 2014

Hierarchical merging scenario indicates that galaxies go through major and minor merger events during their formation and evolution. As a result of the merging, substructural features of remnants such as stellar stream are shown around a current galaxy system. To find evidence of stellar substructures on M31 system, we used the near-infrared images of JHK filters obtained from the Wide Field Camera (WFCAM) at UKIRT 3.8m. A total sky coverage is an area of about$ 4.5^{\circ}{\times}6^{\circ}$ around M31. Indeed, M31 system which consists of several satellite systems contains stellar substructures such as giant stellar stream, loops, and spurs. By analysing stellar populations on the near-infrared color-magnitude diagrams, we selected member star candidates of each stellar substructure, from which we map out spatial distribution of stars in the vicinity of M31 system. Here, we present spatial density distribution maps of stars on each substructure over the entire field of M31 system. Also, we discuss the possible origin of the substructures and the implications on the galaxy assembly process.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.34.1-34.1
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• 2013

The first generation stars in the universe are not observed as discrete objects by using current observational facilities, but their contributions are redshifted to the near infrared wavelength bands at present universe. Therefore, investigation of background radiation at near infrared is important for the study of the first stars. In this study, we present new observations of spatial fluctuations in sky brightness toward the north ecliptic pole using data from AKARI. Among pointed observation program of AKARI, we used two pointing surveys named Monitor field and NEP wide field at three wavelength bands 2.4, 3.2, and 4.1 ${\mu}m$. To obtain spatial fluctuations from observed images, first of all, we exclude pixels affected by resolved foreground objects and then obtain diffuse map which consists of diffused radiation only. Because the diffuse map contains not only cosmological components but also various foreground components, in order to detect cosmological components, we estimate the contributions of foreground components separately. The results of this study show that there remains excess spatial fluctuation that cannot be explained by known foreground sources. This work is based on observations with AKARI, a JAXA project with the participation of ESA.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.35.1-35.1
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• 2013

The first generation stars in the universe are not observed as discrete objects by using current observational facilities, but their contributions are redshifted to the near infrared wavelength bands at present universe. Therefore, investigation of background radiation at near infrared is important for the study of the first stars. In this study, we present new observations of spatial fluctuations in sky brightness toward the north ecliptic pole using data from AKARI. Among pointed observation program of AKARI, we used two pointing surveys named Monitor field and NEP wide field at three wavelength bands 2.4, 3.2, and 4.1 ${\mu}$. To obtain spatial fluctuations from observed images, first of all, we exclude pixels affected by resolved foreground objects and then obtain diffuse map which consists of diffused radiation only. Because the diffuse map contains not only cosmological components but also various foreground components, in order to detect cosmological components, we estimate the contributions of foreground components separately. The results of this study show that there remains excess spatial fluctuation that cannot be explained by known foreground sources. This work is based on observations with AKARI, a JAXA project with the participation of ESA.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.72.2-72.2
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• 2013

We present a UBVI and $H{\alpha}$ photometric study of the young open cluster NGC 1893 in the outer Galaxy as part of "Sejong Open cluster Survey (SOS)" project. Using the properties of early-type stars in the photometric diagrams 65 early-type members were selected. More than 120 $H{\alpha}$ emission stars and candidates were found by $H{\alpha}$ photometry. Together with the published young stellar object catalogue and X-ray source list for this cluster, a total of 837 pre-main sequence (PMS) stars were identified in our photometric data. We obtained the mean reddening of < E(B-V) > = $0.56{\pm}0.08$ mag from the (U-B, B-V) diagram and confirmed the normal reddening law ($R_V=3.1$) toward NGC 1893 based on color excess ratios from optical to mid-infrared wavelengths. The zero-age main sequence fitting to the reddening-corrected color-magnitude diagrams gives a distance modulus of $V_0-M_V=12.8{\pm}0.1$. The age of the cluster inferred from stellar evolution models is about 1-2 Myr. We also found the Salpeter/Kroupa type initial mass function for this cluster. Finally, the mass accretion rate of 80 PMS stars with UV excess emission was estimated for the stars with masses from $0.6M_{\odot}$ to $5M_{\odot}$.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.149-157
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• 2023

The propagation speed of a circumstellar pattern revealed in the plane of the sky is often assumed to represent the expansion speed of the wind matter ejected from a post-main-sequence star at the center. We point out that the often-adopted isotropic wind assumption and the binary hypothesis as the underlying origin for the circumstellar pattern in the shape of multilayered shells are, however, mutually incompatible. We revisit the hydrodynamic models for spiral-shell patterns induced by the orbital motion of a hypothesized binary, of which one star is losing mass at a high rate. The distributions of transverse wind velocities as a function of position angle in the plane of the sky are explored along viewing directions. The variation of the transverse wind velocity is as large as half the average wind velocity over the entire three dimensional domain in the simulated models investigated in this work. The directional dependence of the wind velocity is indicative of the overall morphology of the circumstellar material, implying that kinematic information is an important ingredient in modeling the snapshot monitoring (often in the optical and near-infrared) or the spectral imaging observations for molecular line emissions.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.42-42
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• 2012

The First stars (Pop.III stars) in the universe are expected to be formed between the recombination era at z - 1100 and the most distant quasar (z - 8). They have never been directly detected due to its faintness so far, but can be observed as a background radiation at around 1${\mu}m$ which is called the Cosmic Near-Infrared Background (CNB). Main part of the CNB is thought to be redshifted Lyman-alpha from gas clouds surrounding the Pop.III stars. Until now, the COBE (COsmic Background Explorer) and the IRTS (Infrared Telescope in Space) observed excess emission over the background due to galaxies. To confirm the COBE and the IRTS results and pursue more observational evidences, we carried out the sounding rocket experiment named the Cosmic Infrared Background ExpeRiment (CIBER). The CIBER is successfully launched on July 10, 2010 at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, USA. It consists of three kinds of instruments. We report the results obtained by LRS (Low Resolution Spectrometer) which is developed to fill the uncovered spectrum around 1${\mu}m$. LRS is a refractive telescope of 5.5 cm aperture with spectral resolution of 20 - 30 and wavelength coverage of 0.7 to 2.0${\mu}m$. After subtracting foreground components (zodiacal light, integrated star light and diffuse galactic light) from the sky brightness of observed five fields, there remained significant residual emission (even for the lower limit case) consistent with the IRTS and the COBE results. In addition, there exists a clear gap at 0.7 - 0.8${\mu}m$ in the CNB spectrum over the background due to galaxies according to recent results (Matsuoka et al. 2011; Mattila et al. 2011). The origin of the excess emission could be ascribed to the Pop.III stars with its active era of z = 7 - 10.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.17-28
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• 2007

We present wide-field $JHK_s$-band photometric observations of the three compact H II regions G48.9-0.3, G49.0-0.3, and G49.2-0.3 in the active star-forming region W51B. The star clusters inside the three compact H II regions show the excess number of stars in the $J-K_s$ histograms compared with reference fields. While the mean color excess ratio $(E_{J-H}/E_{H-K_s})$ of the three compact H II regions are similar to ${\sim}2.07$, the visual extinctions toward them are somewhat different: ${\sim}17$ mag for G48.9-0.3 and G49.0-0.3; ${\sim}23$ mag for G49.2-0.3. Based on their sizes and brightnesses, we suggest that the age of each compact H II region is ${\leq}2\;Myr$. The inferred total stellar mass, ${\sim}1.4{\times}10^4M_{\odot}$, of W51B makes it one of the most active star forming regions in the Galaxy with the star formation efficiency of ${\sim}10%$.