• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.353-356
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• 2012

We present new constraints on the cosmic optical background (COB) obtained from an analysis of the Pioneer 10/11 Imaging Photopolarimeter (IPP) data. After careful examination of the data quality, the usable measurements free from the zodiacal light are integrated into sky maps at the blue (${\sim}0.44{\mu}m$) and red (${\sim}0.64{\mu}m$) bands. Accurate starlight subtraction was achieved by referring to all-sky star catalogs and a Galactic stellar population synthesis model down to 32.0 mag. We find that the residual light is separated into two components: one component shows a clear correlation with the thermal $100{\mu}m$ brightness, whilst the other shows a constant level in the lowest $100{\mu}m$ brightness region. The presence of the second component is significant after all the uncertainties and possible residual light in the Galaxy are taken into account, thus it most likely has an extragalactic origin (i.e., the COB). The derived COB brightness is ($(1.8{\pm}0.9){\times}10^{-9}$ and $(1.2{\pm}0.9){\times}10^{-9}\;erg\;s^{-1}\;cm^{-2}\;sr^{-1}\;{\AA}^{-1}$ in the blue and red spectral regions, respectively, or $7.9{\pm}4.0$ and $7.7{\pm}5.8\;nW\;m^{-2}\;sr^{-1}$. Based on a comparison with the integrated brightness of galaxies, we conclude that the bulk of the COB is comprised of normal galaxies which have already been resolved by the current deepest observations. There seems to be little room for contributions from other populations including "first stars" at these wavelengths. On the other hand, the first component of the IPP residual light represents the diffuse Galactic light (DGL)-scattered starlight by the interstellar dust. We derive the mean DGL-to-$100{\mu}m$ brightness ratios of $2.1{\times}10^{-3}$ and $4.6{\times}10^{-3}$ at the two bands, which are roughly consistent with previous observations toward denser dust regions. Extended red emission in the diffuse interstellar medium is also confirmed.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.163-167
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• 2017

Utilizing a unique capability of AKARI that allows deep spectroscopy at $2.5-5.0{\mu}m$, we performed a spectroscopy study of more than 200 quasars through one of the AKARI mission programs, QSONG (Quasar Spectroscopic Observation with NIR Grism). QSONG targeted 155 high redshift (3.3 < z < 6.42) quasars and 90 low redshift active galactic nuclei (0.002 < z < 0.48). In order to provide black hole mass estimates based on the rest-frame optical spectra, the high redshift part of QSONG is designed to detect the $H{\alpha}$ line and the rest-frame optical spectra of quasars at z > 3.3. The low redshift part of QSONG is geared to uncover the rest-frame $2.5-5.0{\mu}m$ spectral features of active galactic nuclei to gain useful information such as the dust-extinction-free black hole mass estimators based on the Brackett lines and the temperatures of the hot dust torus. We outline the program strategy, and present some of the scientific highlights from QSONG, including the detection of the $H{\alpha}$ line from a quasar at z > 4.5 which indicates a rigorous growth of black holes in the early universe, and the $Br{\beta}$-based black hole mass estimators and the hot dust temperatures (~ 1100 K) of low redshift AGNs.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.41.1-41.1
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• 2014

Although the link between activity in the nuclei of galaxy and galactic mergers has been under scrutiny for several years, it is still unclear to what extent and for which populations of active galaxies merger-triggered activity is relevant. The environment of AGN allows an indirect probe of the past merger history and future merger probability of these systems, suffering less from sensitivity issues while extending to higher redshifts, compared to traditional morphological studies of AGN host galaxies. Here we present results from our investigation of the environment of radio selected sources out to redshift z=2. We employ the first data release J-band catalog from the new near-IR Infrared Medium-Deep Survey (IMS) and 1.4 GHz radio data from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-cm (FIRST) survey and a deep dedicated VLA survey of the VIMOS field, covering a combined total of ~20 sq. degrees. Given the flux limit of the combined radio catalog (0.1 mJy), we probe a radio luminosity range of 10^36-10^44 erg/s. Using the second and fifth closest neighbor density parameters, we test whether active galaxies inhabit denser environments and study these overdensities in terms of both distance to the AGN and its luminosity. We find evidence for a sub-population of radio-selected AGN that resides in significantly overdense environments at small scales, although we do not find significant overdensities for the bulk of our sample. We do not recover any dependence between the AGN radio-luminosity and overdensities. We show that radio-AGN inhabiting the most underdense environments in the field have vigorous ongoing star formation. We interpret these results in terms of the triggering and fuelling mechanism of radio-AGN.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.74.1-74.1
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• 2012

We observed the radio sources found from the First Look Survey (FLS) field at the 1.4 GHz radio continuum emission with the Very Large Array (VLA) using the A configuration. We identify point sources and multi component sources at ${\geq}4{\sigma}$ level. We also present the submillimeter properties of the selected radio sources in the FLS field from the Herschel/SPIRE 250/350/500/${\mu}m$ and AzTEC 1.1mm surveys. The counterparts of the radio sources at submillimeter for these called 'submillimeter galaxies (SMGs)' are detected at infrared wavelength with the Spitzer MIPS 24 & 70 ${\mu}m$ sources. Based on the MMT/HECTOSPEC red-shift survey, IRS spectroscopy, and SDSS photometric red-shift survey, the radio sources are likely to be the extragalactic sources. Here, we use the star formation rate (SFR) derived from the MIPS 24 and 70 ${\mu}m$ luminosity to compare the measured SFR from the VLA 1.4 GHz luminosity. These results show that a tight correlation between the SFR from the radio luminosity and the MIPS $24{\mu}m$ rather than that from the MIPS $70{\mu}m$ luminosity. Radio and IR correlation is also used to indicate the radio and IR properties of star-formation in the galaxies and active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Using the counterpart sources selected at IR and radio wavelengths, we employ the IR/radio flux ratios to determine the properties and population of the selected galaxies.

• 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.

• 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.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.31.4-32
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• 2018

The ADF-S (AKARI Deep Field - South) toward South Ecliptic Pole is one of the deep survey fields designed for the study of Cosmic Infrared Background (CIB). Owing to the easy accessibility with space missions and its low background brightness, the deep extragalactic survey was initiated by AKARI deep far-infrared observations and it will be performed by other future missions (e.g., Euclid, NISS, SPHEREx). The recent optical survey with KMTNet enabled us to identify the optical counterparts for dusty star-forming galaxies such as ULIRG, DOG, SMG. In addition, the NISS will perform the valuable spectro-photometric survey in the ADF-S. Those multi-wavelength data sets helps to trace the major galaxy population contributing to the CIB. Here, we introduce the extragalactic survey with the NISS and report the current status of the multi-wavelength extragalactic studies in the ADF-S.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.53.1-53.1
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• 2021

The KASI team 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 project PDR (Preliminary Design Review) was successfully passed on the last September, the fabrication of flight hardware is in progress. As an international partner, KASI deeply involved in all fields of projects, i.e., the development of calibration facility, the construction of data reduction modules and the science studies for the SPHEREx. After finishing the fabrication and test of calibration facility for the SPHEREx in this year, it will be delivered to Caltech. 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.27 no.4
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• pp.123-128
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• 2012

An overview of the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) deep multi-wavelength survey covering from X-ray to radio wavelengths is presented. The main science objective of this multi-wavelength project is to unveil the star-formation and AGN activities obscured by dust in the violent epoch of the Universe (z=0.5-2), when the star formation and black-hole evolution activities were much stronger than the present. The NEP deep survey with AKARI/IRC consists of two survey projects: shallow wide (8.2 sq. deg, NEP-Wide) and the deep one (0.6 sq. deg, NEP-Deep). The NEP-Deep provides us with a $15{\mu}m$ or $18{\mu}m$ selected sample of several thousands of galaxies, the largest sample ever made at these wavelengths. A continuous filter coverage at mid-IR wavelengths (7, 9, 11, 15, 18, and $24{\mu}m$) is unique and vital to diagnose the contribution from starbursts and AGNs in the galaxies at the violent epoch. The recent updates of the ancillary data are also provided: optical/near-IR magnitudes (Subaru, CFHT), X-ray (Chandra), FUV/NUV (GALEX), radio (WSRT, GMRT), optical spectra (Keck/DEIMOS etc.), Subaru/FMOS, Herschel/SPIRE, and JCMT/SCUBA-2.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.219-220
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• 2012

We present the results of far-infrared spectroscopic observations of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with FIS-FTS. We covered a large area across the LMC, including 30 Doradus (30 Dor) and N44 star-forming regions, by 191 pointings in total. As a result, we detect the [OIII] and [CII] line emission as well as far-infrared dust continuum emission throughout the LMC. We find that the [OIII] emission is widely distributed around 30 Dor. The observed size of the distribution is too large to be explained by massive stars in 30 Dor, which are assumed to be enshrouded by clouds with the constant gas density estimated from the [OIII] line intensities. Therefore the surrounding structure is likely to be highly clumpy. We also find a global correlation between the [OIII] and the far-infrared continuum emission, suggesting that the gas and dust are well mixed in the highly-ionized region where the dust survives in clumpy dense clouds shielded from energetic photons. Furthermore we find that the ratios of [CII]/CO are as high as 110,000 in 30 Dor, and 45,000 even on average, while they are typically 6,000 for star-forming regions in our Galaxy. The unusually high [CII]/CO is also consistent with the picture of clumpy small dense clouds.