• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.82.2-82.2
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• 2011

Infra-Red Dark Clouds (IRDCs) seen silhouette against the bright Galactic background in mid-IR are a class of interstellar clouds that are dense and cold with very high column densities. While IRDCs are believed to be the precursors to massive stars and star clusters, individual IRDCs show diverse star forming activities within them. We report a remarkable example of such cloud, the IRDC at ${\Gamma}53.2^{\circ}$, and star formation activity in this cloud. The IRDC was previously identified in part as three separate, arcmin-size clouds in the catalogue of MSX IRDC candidates, but we found that the IRDC is associated with a long, filamentary CO cloud at 2 kpc from the Galactic Ring Survey data of $^{13}CO$ J = 1-0 emission, and that its total extent reaches ~ 30pc. The Spitzer MIPSGAL 24mm data show a number of reddened mid-IR sources distributed along the IRDC which are probably young stellar objects (YSOs), and the UWISH2 $H_2$ data (2.122mm) reveal ubiquitous out flows around them. These observations indicate that the IRDC is a site of active star formation with YSOs in various evolutionary stages. In order to investigate the nature of mid-IR sources, we have performed photometry of MIPSGAL data, and we present a catalogue of YSOs combining other available point source catalogues from optical to IR. We discuss the evolutionary stages and characteristics of YSOs from their IR colors and spectral energy distributions.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.73.2-73.2
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• 2012

Matusoka & Kawara (2010) showed that the number density of the most massive galaxies (log $M/M_{\odot}=11.5-12.0$) increases faster than that of the next massive group (log $M/M_{\odot}=11.0-11.5$) during 0 < z < 1. This appears to be in contradiction to another important empirical concept of "downsizing". We attempt to understand the two observational findings in the context of the hierarchical merger paradigm using semi-analytic techniques. Our models closely reproduce the result of Matusoka & Kawara (2010). Downsizing can also be understood as larger galaxies have on average smaller assembly ages but larger stellar ages. Our fiducial models further reveal the details on the history of stellar mass growth of massive galaxies. The most massive galaxies (log $M/M_{\odot}=11.5-12.0$ at z=0), which are mostly brightest cluster galaxies, obtain roughly 70% of their stellar components via merger accretion. The role of merger accretion monotonically declines with galaxy mass: 45% for log $M/M_{\odot}=11.0-11.5$ and 20% for log $M/M_{\odot}=10.5-11.0$ at z = 0. The specific accreted stellar mass rates via galaxy mergers decline very slowly during the whole redshift range, while the specific star formation rates sharply decrease with time. In the case of the most massive galaxies, merger accretion becomes the most important channel for the stellar mass growth at z ~ 2. On the other hand, in-situ star formation is always the dominant channel in the $L_*$ galaxies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.72.3-72.3
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• 2019

OB associations are young stellar systems on a few tens to a hundred parsec scale, and many of them are composed of multiple substructures. It is suggested that some hints about their formation process are probably imprinted on structural features and internal kinematics. In this context, we study the massive star forming region W4 in the Cassiopeia OB6 association using the Gaia proper motion data and high-resolution optical spectra taken from Hectochelle on MMT. We probe the structure and internal kinematics of W4 to trance its formation process. Several nonmembers with different kinematic properties are excluded in our sample. Some of them may be young stellar population spread over a large area of the Perseus spiral arm given their wide spatial distribution over 50 parsecs. W4 is composed of an central open cluster (IC 1805) and an extended stellar component. Their global expansion patterns are detected in stellar proper motion. In this presentation, we will further discuss the formation process of W4, based on the velocity dispersions of stars comprising these substructure.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.29.4-29.4
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• 2020

Structure in the universe forms hierarchically with the small scales forming first and merging into larger scales. Galaxy clusters are at the pinnacle of the formation process. Peering far into the universe, we can observe galaxy clusters early in their evolution. SpARCSJ1049+56 is a galaxy cluster located at a redshift of 1.71. It has been shown to be rich in cluster galaxies, to have intense star formation, and to have a significant amount of molecular gas. Through careful control of systematics, we detected the weak-lensing signal from this distant galaxy cluster. I will present our HST infrared weak-lensing detection of the cluster with a focus on the method. Our lensing analysis found that the cluster is massive and is rare in a LambdaCDM universe. I will also present the Chandra X-ray discovery of cold gas coincident with the intense star formation and discuss the implications of the detection.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.60.1-60.1
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• 2010

Methanol maser sources are believed to represent the earliest evolutionary stage of massive star formation. Pandian et al. (2007) recently made a very sensitive blind survey of 6.7GHz ClassII methanol maser towards the Galacitic midplane ($35^{\circ}$<1<$55^{\circ}$ & |b|<$0.5^{\circ}$) and found 86 maser sources. We carried out 22GHz $H_2O$ and 44.0 GHz $CH_3OH$ maser line surveys of them with KVN 21m and various (CO (2-1), $^{13}CO$ (2-1), $^{13}CO$ (1-0), $C^{18}O$ (2-1), CS (2-1), $HCO^+$ (3-2) and HCN (3-2)) molecular line surveys with SRAO 6m and TRAO 14m. we will present the preliminary results and discuss the implications for massive star formation.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.44.1-44.1
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• 2013

We investigate the origin of radio emission in nearby early-type galaxies using the European VLBI Network (EVN) at 1.4 GHz. The sample included NGC 1277, which was found to have an over-massive black hole of $1.7{\times}10^{10}M_{\odot}$, and four other early-type galaxies in the Perseus cluster. All the sources were detected above $5{\sigma}$. They show compact radio cores and high brightness temperatures, $10^7{\sim}10^9K$, which implies that radio emission in these objects is non-thermal. While the observed radio luminosities could be consistent with star formation (${\sim}1M_{\odot}yr^{-1}$), the small source size would imply a specific star formation rate (sSFR) of ${\sim}10^6M_{\odot}yr^{-1}kpc^{-2}$. Such a high sSFR rules out ongoing star formation. Supernovae (SNe) are ruled out as well because it is unlikely that we see SNe in all galaxies at the same time, and there is no significant radio variability either. The most plausible scenario is that these galaxies show low luminosity AGN activity in the radio, although there is no sign of AGN activity in other bands. If our interpretation is correct, then regular early-type galaxies may harbor active AGN more often than suspected from observations at other wavelengths.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.33.3-34
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• 2016

We explored the GALEX UV properties of optical red sequence galaxies in 4 rich Abell clusters at z ~ 0.1. In particular, we tried to find a hint of merger-induced recent star formation (RSF) in red sequence galaxies. Based on the NUV - r' colors of the galaxies, about 36% of the post-merger galaxies were classified as RSF galaxies with a conservative criterion (NUV - $r^{\prime}{\leq}5$), and that number was doubled (~ 72%) when using a generous criterion (NUV - $r^{\prime}{\leq}5.4$). Post-merger galaxies with strong UV emission showed more violent, asymmetric features on the deep optical images. Also it turned out that all massive RSF galaxies (Mr' < -22 and NUV - $r^{\prime}{\leq}5$) exhibited post-merger signatures. Our results suggested that only 30% of RSF red sequence galaxies show morphological hints of recent galaxy mergers. This implies that internal processes (e.g., stellar mass-loss or hot gas cooling) for the supply of cold gas to early-type galaxies may play a significant role in the residual star formation of early-type galaxies at a recent epoch.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.355-358
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• 2015

We have conducted a near-infrared monitoring campaign at the UK InfraRed Telescope (UKIRT), of the Local Group galaxy M33. The main aim was to identify stars in the very final stage of their evolution, and for which the luminosity is more directly related to the birth mass than the more numerous less-evolved giant stars that continue to increase in luminosity. The pulsating giant stars (AGB and red supergiants) are identified and their distributions are used to derive the star formation rate as a function of age. These stars are also important dust factories; we measure their dust production rates from a combination of our data with Spitzer Space Telescope mid-IR photometry. The mass-loss rates are seen to increase with increasing strength of pulsation and with increasing bolometric luminosity. Low-mass stars lose most of their mass through stellar winds, but even super-AGB stars and red superginats lose ~40% of their mass via a dusty stellar wind. We construct a 2-D map of the mass-return rate, showing a radial decline but also local enhancements due to agglomerations of massive stars. By comparing the current star formation rate with total mass input to the ISM, we conclude that the star formation in the central regions of M33 can only be sustained if gas is accreted from further out in the disc or from circum-galactic regions.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.42.2-42.2
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• 2017

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is a unique target to study the detail structures of molecular clouds and star-forming regions, due to its proximity and face-on orientation from us. Most part of the astrophysical subjects for the LMC have been investigated, but the magnetic field is still veiling despite its role in the evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM) and in the main force to influence the star formation process. Measuring polarization of the background stars behind interstellar medium allows us to describe the existence of magnetic fields through the polarization vector map. In this presentation, I introduce the near-infrared polarimetric results for the $39^{\prime}{\times}69^{\prime}$ field of the northeastern region of the LMC and the N159/N160 star-forming complex therein. The polarimetric observations were conducted at IRSF/SIRPOL 1.4 m telescope. These results allow us to examine both the global geometry of the large-scale magnetic field in the northeastern region and the close structure of the magnetic field in the complex. Prominent patterns of polarization vectors mainly follow dust emission features in the mid-infrared bands, which imply that the large-scale magnetic fields are highly involved in the structure of the dust cloud in the LMC. In addition, local magnetic field structures in the N159/N160 star-forming complex are investigated with the comparison between polarization vectors and molecular cloud emissions, suggesting that the magnetic fields are resulted from the sequential formation history of this complex. I propose that ionizing radiation from massive stellar clusters and the expanding bubble of the ionized gas and dust in this complex probably affect the nascent magnetic field structure.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.33.3-34
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• 2021

In LCDM universe, large, massive structures, like galaxy clusters, grow through the successive accretion/mergers of smaller structures. Therefore, at high redshift, unlike local, it is expected that there would be plenty of galaxy clusters which are still growing. Here, we report the discovery of a high-redshift (z~1) galaxy cluster which is in its active formation stage. This cluster is well connected to the large scale overdense environment and contains high fraction of star-forming galaxies, providing a good example supporting our previously suggested 'Web-feeding model'.