• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.88.1-88.1
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• 2012

We utilize Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7 spectroscopic data of ~340 star forming galaxies in the Virgo cluster to investigate their chemical properties depending on the environments. The chemical evolution of galaxies is linked to their star formation histories (SFHs), as well as to the gas interchange in different environments. In this sense, galaxy metallicity could be an observable parameter providing information on the impact of the environment on the galaxy SFH and/or the galaxy gas content. Thus, we derived gaseous metallicity (e.g., oxygen abundance) of star forming galaxies located in different regions of the Virgo cluster using well-known empirical calibrations. We also estimated their star formation rate (SFR) using H alpha luminosity. Inorder to investigate the chemical properties of these galaxies, we examined relations between various parameters: metallicity vs. luminosity, SFR vs. luminosity, and metallicity vs. cluster-centric radius. From our results, we discuss environmental effects of cluster to the chemical properties of star forming galaxies.

• 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.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.53-58
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• 1998

The $H{\beta}$ and some metal line indices, such as Mg2, Fe52 of single-age and single-metallicity populations are computed based on the method of evolutionary population synthesis, with careful consideration of the variation of the horizontal-branch morphology with metallicity and age. We find (a) that while metal lines are little af-fected, the $H{\beta}$ index is severely enhanced (up to 30%)by the presence of the blue horizontal-branch stars, frustrating the current age-estimations from this index with out careful consideration of these stars, and (b) that there is a systematic trend in the sense that the globular clusters in giant elliptical galaxies appear to be older than those in our Galaxy by several billion years. We also calculate these indices for the stellar populations with a metallicity spread, by adopting metallicity distribution functions predicted by chemical evolution models. The comparison of the models with the observed indices of the central regions of the early-type galaxies yields the results (a) that the ages of the giant elliptical galaxies would be older than the previous estimations by several billion years, and (b) that there is a considerable age spread among elliptical galaxies, in the sense that the giant elliptical galaxies are older than small ones.

• Journal of Magnetics
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.115-119
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• 2008

The authors predicted that $Co_2HfSi$, a $Co_2$-based full Heusler alloy, is being a half-metallic ferromagnet by first-principles calculations using the all electron full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method which adopts the generalized gradient approximation. The integer value of the calculated total magnetic moment of 2.00 ${\mu}_B$ per formula unit and a spin gap of 0.69 eV in spin down state confirmed the half-metallicity of bulk $Co_2HfSi$. For the $Co_2HfSi$(001) surface, we considered two possible surface terminations, namely, Co terminated and HfSi terminated surfaces. It was found that half-metallicity was retained at the HfSi-terminated surface but not at the Co-terminated surface. The magnetic moment of surface Co atoms in the Co-terminated surface was slightly lower than that of Co atoms in deep inner-layers, whereas the magnetic moments of Hf and Si atoms at the HfSi-terminated surface were almost same as those in deep inner-layers.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.489-490
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• 2015

We present population synthesis models for the calcium II triplet (CaT), currently the most popular metallicity indicator, based on high-resolution empirical spectral energy distributions (SEDs). Our new CaT models, based on empirical SEDs, show a linear correlation below [Fe/H] ~ -0.5, but the linear relation breaks down in the metal-rich regime by converging to the same equivalent width. This relation shows good agreement with the observed CaT of globular clusters (GCs) in NGC 1407 and the Milky Way. However, a model based on theoretical SEDs does not show this feature of the CaT and fails to reproduce observed GCs in the metal-rich regime. This linear relation may cause inaccurate metallicity determination for metal-rich stellar populations. We have also confirmed that the effect of horizontal-branch stars on the CaT is almost negligible in models based on both empirical and theoretical SEDs. Our new empirical model may explain the difference between the color distributions and CaT distributions of GCs in various early-type galaxies. Based on our model, we claim that the CaT is not a good metallicity indicator for simple stellar populations in the metal-rich regime.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.73.2-73.2
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• 2019

The physical origin of low escape fractions of ionizing radiation derived from Lyman-break galaxies (LBGs) at z ~ 3 - 4 is a puzzle in the theory of reionization. We perform idealized disk galaxy simulations to investigate how galactic properties, such as metallicity and gas mass, affect the escape of Lyman continuum (LyC) photons using radiation-hydrodynamic code RAMSES-RT, with strong stellar feedback. We find that the luminosity-weighted escape fraction from a metal-poor (Z=0.002) galaxy embedded in a halo of mass M_h ~ 10¹¹ M_⊙ is 〈f^3D_esc〉 ~ 8%. However, when the gas metallicity is increased to Z=0.02, the escape fraction is significantly reduced to 〈f^3D_esc〉 ~ 1%, as young stars are enshrouded by their birth clouds for a longer period of time. On the other hand, increasing the gas mass by a factor of 5 leads to 〈f^3D_esc〉 ~ 4%, as LyC photons are only moderately absorbed by the thicker disk. Our experiments seem to suggest that high metallicity is primarily responsible for the low escape fractions observed from LBGs, supporting the scenario in which the escape fraction has a negative correlation with halo mass. Indeed, our simulated galaxy with the typical metallicity of LBGs (Z=0.006) shows the relative escape fraction of 8%, consistent with recent observations of galaxies with M₁₅₀₀ = -20.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.35.1-35.1
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• 2021

RR Lyrae stars are sensitive probe for the precision stellar astrophysics and also for the cosmic distance scale thanks to their well-defined near-infrared Period-Luminosity relations (PLRs). These horizontal branch variables can be used for primary calibration of the first-rung of population II distance ladder providing an evaluation of the ongoing tension between Cepheid-Supernovae based Hubble constant and the Planck results. Therefore, absolute calibration of RR Lyrae PLRs is now crucial to complement or test the tip of the red giant branch based distances, and in turn, population II star based Hubble constant measurements. While the pulsation models of RR Lyrae can reproduce most observables, they predict a significant metallicity effect on their JHKs-band PLRs that is inconsistent with so-far limited observational studies. We remedy this inconsistency of metallicity dependence in RR Lyrae PLRs by combining their near-infrared observations in the globular clusters of different mean-metallicities with the new parallaxes from the Gaia early data release 3 (EDR3). Our empirical results on Period-Luminosity-Metallicity (PLZ)relations are consistent with theoretical predictions but the precision of absolute calibrations is still affected by the parallax uncertainties and the systematic zero-point offset present in the Gaia EDR3.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.429-435
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• 2005

We present BV CCD photometry for the open clusters Czernik 24 and Czernik 27. These clusters have never been studied before, and we provide, for the first time, the cluster parameters; reddening, distance, metallicity and age. Czernik 24 is an old open cluster with age $1.8{\pm}0.2Gyr$, metallicity $[Fe/H]=-0.41{\pm}0.15dex$, distance modulus $(m-M)_0=13.1{\pm}0.3mag$ ($d=4.1{\pm}0.5kpc$), and reddening $E(B-V)=0.54{\pm}0.12mag$. The parameters for Czernik 27 are estimated to be $age=0.63{\pm}0.07Gyr$, $[Fe/H]=-0.02{\pm}0.10dex$, $(m-M)_0=13.8{\pm}0.2mag$ ($d=5.8{\pm}0.5kpc$), and $E(B-V)=0.15{\pm}0.05mag$. The metallicity and distance values for Czernik 24 are consistent with the relation between the metallicity and the Galactocentric distance of other old open clusters. We find the metallicity gradient of 51 old open clusters including Czernik 24 to be ${\Delta}[Fe/H]/{\Delta}R_{gc}=-0.064 {\pm}0.009dex\;kpc^{-1}$.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2003

We present a study of the old open cluster Trumpler 5 (Tr 5), based on the CDS archival data. From the color-magnitude diagrams of Tr 5, we have found the positions of main-sequence turn-off (MSTO) and red giant clump (RGC) stars. Using the mean magnitude of the RGC stars, we have estimated the reddening toward Tr 5, E(B - V) = 0.60 $\pm$ 0.10. Using the stars common in two data sets and the theoretical isochrones of Padova group, we have estimated the distance modulus $V_o - M_v = 12.64 {\pm} 0.20 (d = 3.4 {\pm} 0.3 kpc)$, the metallicity [Fe/H) = -0.30 $\pm$ 0.10, and the age of 2.4 $\pm$ 0.2 Gyr (log t = 9.38). These metallicity and distance values are consistent with the relation between the metallicity and the Galactocentric distance of other old open clusters, for which we obtain the slope of ${\Delta}[Fe/H]/ R_{gc} = -0.064 {\pm} 0.010\;dex\;kpc^{-1}$.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.33.2-33.2
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• 2015

The color distribution functions (CDFs) of globular clusters (GCs) in individual early-type galaxies show great diversity in their morphology. Based on the conventional "linear" relationship between colors and metallicities of GCs, the inferred GC metallicity distribution functions and thus their formation histories should be as diverse as they appear. In contrast, an alternative scenario rooted in the "nonlinear" nature of the color-to-metallicity transformation finds the various CDFs pointing systematically to a simple picture, i.e., such a high degree of variety stems predominately from only one parameter, the mean metallicity of GCs. The simulated CDFs of GCs aimed to reproduce 67 massive early-type galaxies from the ACS Virgo & Fornax Cluster Survey show that over 70% of the CDFs concur fully with the nonlinearity scenario. We discuss our new findings in terms of early-type galaxy formation in the cluster environment.