• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.49 no.6
• /
• pp.261-288
• /
• 2016

We present the results of simultaneous monitoring observations of $H_2O$ $6_{1,6}-5_{2,3}$ (22GHz) and SiO J=1-0, 2-1, 3-2 maser lines (43, 86, 129GHz) toward five post-AGB (candidate) stars, using the 21-m single-dish telescopes of the Korean VLBI Network. Depending on the target objects, 7 - 11 epochs of data were obtained. We detected both $H_2O$ and SiO maser lines from four sources: OH16.1-0.3, OH38.10-0.13, OH65.5+1.3, and IRAS 19312+1950. We could not detect $H_2O$ maser emission toward OH13.1+5.1 between the late OH/IR and post-AGB stage. The detected $H_2O$ masers show typical double-peaked line profiles. The SiO masers from four sources, except IRAS 19312+1950, show the peaks around the stellar velocity as a single peak, whereas the SiO masers from IRAS 19312+1950 occur above the red peak of the $H_2O$ maser. We analyzed the properties of detected maser lines, and investigated their evolutionary state through comparison with the full widths at zero power. The distribution of observed target sources was also investigated in the IRAS two-color diagram in relation with the evolutionary stage of post-AGB stars. From our analyses, the evolutionary sequence of observed sources is suggested as OH65.5+1.3${\rightarrow}$OH13.1+5.1${\rightarrow}$OH16.1-0.3${\rightarrow}$OH38.10-0.13, except for IRAS 19312+1950. In addition, OH13.1+5.1 from which the $H_2O$ maser has not been detected is suggested to be on the gateway toward the post-AGB stage. With respect to the enigmatic object, IRAS 19312+1950, we could not clearly figure out its nature. To properly explain the unusual phenomena of SiO and $H_2O$ masers, it is essential to establish the relative locations and spatial distributions of two masers using VLBI technique. We also include the $1.2-160{\mu}m$ spectral energy distribution using photometric data from the following surveys: 2MASS, WISE, MSX, IRAS, and AKARI (IRC and FIS). In addition, from the IRAS LRS spectra, we found that the depth of silicate absorption features shows significant variations depending on the evolutionary sequence, associated with the termination of AGB phase mass-loss.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.261-262
• /
• 2012

The aim of this research is to reveal the spatial distribution of the star formation activity of nearby galaxies by comparing CO molecular emission lines with the large area observation in far-infrared (FIR) lines. We report the imaging observations of NGC 253 by FIR forbidden lines via FIS-FTS and CO molecular lines from low to high excitation levels with ASTE, which are good tracers of star forming regions or photo-dissociation regions, especially spiral galaxies, in order to derive the information of the physical conditions of the ambient interstellar radiation fields. The combination of spatially resolved FIR and sub-mm data leads to the star formation efficiency within galaxy. The ratio between the FIR luminosity and molecular gas mass, $L_{FIR}/M_{H_2}$, is expected to be proportional to the number of stars formed in the galaxy per unit molecular gas mass and time. Moreover the FIR line ux shows current star formation activity directly. Furthermore these can be systematic and statistical data for star formation history and evolution of spiral galaxies.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.54 no.6
• /
• pp.171-182
• /
• 2021

The lack of short baselines, referred to as the short-spacing problem (SSP), is a well-known limitation of the performance of radio interferometers, causing a reduction of the flux detected from source structure on large angular scales. The very large number of antennas operated in the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) generates situations for which the impact of the SSP takes a complex form, not simply measurable by a single number, such as the maximal recoverable scale. In particular, extended antenna configurations, complemented by a small group of closeby antennas at the centre of the array, may result in a double-humped baseline distribution with a significant gap between the two groups. In such cases one should adopt as the effective maximal recoverable scale the one associated with the extended array and use only the central array to recover missing flux, as one would do with single dish or ACA (Atacama Compact Array) observations. The impact of the missing baselines can be very important and may easily be underestimated, or even overlooked. The present study uses ALMA archival data of the ²⁹SiO(8-7) line emission of the AGB star W Hydrae for a demonstration. A critical discussion of the reliability of the observations away from the star is presented together with comments of a broader scope. Properties of the circumstellar envelope of W Hya within ~15 au from the star, many of which are not mentioned in the published literature, are briefly described and compared with R Doradus, an AGB star having properties very similar to W Hya.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.52 no.3
• /
• pp.83-88
• /
• 2019

Using ALMA observations of the $^{13}CN$ and DCN lines in the massive star-forming region G33.92+0.11A, we investigate the CN/HCN abundance ratio, which serves as a tracer of photodissociation chemistry, over the whole observed region. Even considering the uncertainties in calculating the abundance ratio, we find high ratios (${\gg}1$) in large parts of the source, especially in the outer regions of star-forming clumps A1, A2, and A5. Regions with high CN/HCN ratios coincide with the inflows of accreted gas suggested by Liu et al. (2015). We conclude that we found strong evidence for interaction between the dense gas clumps and the accreted ambient gas which may have sequentially triggered the star formation in these clumps.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.157-166
• /
• 2001

The molecular cloud associated with the H II region S301 has been mapped in the J = 1-0 transitions of $^{12}CO$ and $^{13}CO$ using the 13.7 m radio telescope of Taeduk Radio Astronomy Observatory. The cloud is elongated along the north-south direction with two strong emission components facing the H II region. Its total mass is $8.7 {\times} 10^3 M{\bigodot}$. We find a velocity gradient of the molecular gas near the interface with the optical H II region, which may be a signature of interaction between the molecular cloud and the H II region. Spectra of CO, CS, and HCO+ exhibit line splitting even in the densest part of the cloud and suggests the clumpy structure. The radio continuum maps show that the ionzed gas is distributed with some asymmetry and the eastern part of the H II region is obscured by the molecular cloud. We propose that the S301 H II region is at the late stage of the champagne phase, but the second generation of stars has not yet been formed in the postshock layer.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.53 no.3
• /
• pp.77-85
• /
• 2020

In the molecular cloud G33.92+0.11A, massive stars are forming sequentially in dense cores, probably due to interaction with accreted gas. Cold dense gas, which is likely the pristine gas of the cloud, is traced by DCN line and dust continuum emission. Clear chemical differences were observed in different source locations and for different velocity components in the same line of sight. Several distinct gas components coexist in the cloud: the pristine cold gas, the accreted dense gas, and warm turbulent gas, in addition to the star-forming dense clumps. Filaments of accreted gas occur in the northern part of the A1 and A5 clumps, and the velocity gradient along these features suggests that the gas is falling toward the cloud and may have triggered the most recent star formation. The large concentration of turbulent gas in the A2 clump seems to have formed mainly through disturbances from the outside.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.255-264
• /
• 1995

The HII region S140 and the associated molecular cloud L1204 have been observed with 10 molecular transitions, CO (1-0), $^{13}CO$ (1-0), $C^{18}O$ (1-0), CS (2-1), $HCO^+$ (1-0), HCN (1-0), SO (${2_2}-{1_1}$), $SO_2(2_{20}-3_{13})$, OCS (8-7), and $HNCO\;(4_{04}-3_{03})$ with ${\sim}50"$ angular resolutions. More than 7,000 spectra were obtained in total. The morphology of this region shows a massive fragment (the S140 core) and the extended envelope to the northeast. Several gas condensations have been identified in the envelope, having masses of ${\sim}10^{3}M_{\odot}$ and gas number densities of ${\lesssim}10^{4}cm^{-3}$ to $3{\times}10^{5}cm^{-3}$ in their cores. The column densities of the observed molecular species toward the S140 core appear to be the typical warm clouds' abundances. It seems to be that the S140 core and L1204 have been swept up by an expanding shell called the Cepheus bubble. The large value of $L_{IR}$(embedded\;stars)/$M_{cloud}\;{\sim}\;5\;L_{\odot}$/$M_{\odot}$ of the S140 core may suggest that the star formation has been stimulated by the HII region, but the shock velocity and the pressure of the region seem to give a hint of the spontaneous star formation by the self gravity.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.61.2-61.2
• /
• 2011

Low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions (LINERs) have been generally regarded to be powered by active galactic nuclei (AGNs), yet still a number of alternative explanations on the origin of LINER emission are suggested; for example, planetary nebulae nuclei of massive stars, supernovae shocks from death of massive stars, and old stellar populations. Interestingly, a majority of recent star formation early-type galaxies (ETGs) in local universe presents such LINER emission lines. Given that situation, revealing the true nature of LINERs is a crucial step to constrain the evolution path to quiescent ETGs. To resolve the issue, we use Keck/LRIS to obtain spatially resolved spectra on a carefully selected ETG. The ETG SDSS J091628.05+420818.7 at redshift z ~ 0.024 shows modest LINER emission line features without any detection of 21 cm radio continuum nor X-ray emission. We perform a stellar continuum subtraction and measure emission line strengths and their uncertainties for each spectrum from five apertures along the slit with size of 1 arcsecond (~0.5 kpc). We find that extended spatial distributions of four emission lines $H{\alpha}$, $H{\beta}$, [OIII]${\lambda}5007$, and [NII]${\lambda}6583$, and they can be explained by central emission blurring effect. We conclude that the emissions seem to be centrally concentrated, indicating the AGN-nature of LINERs.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.38 no.2
• /
• pp.279-282
• /
• 2005

We report the millimeter-wave radio observations of molecular cloud cores in Taurus. The observed line is the $N_2H^+$ emission at 93 GHz, which is known to be less affected by molecular depletion. We have compared starless (IRAS-less) cores with star-forming cores. We found that there is no large difference between starless and star-forming cores, in core radius, linewidth, core mass, and radial intensity profile. Our result is in contrast with the result obtained by using a popular molecular line, in which starless cores are larger and less condensed. We suggest that different results mainly come from whether the employed molecular line is affected by depletion or not. We made a virial analysis, and found that both starless and star-forming cores are not far from the critical equilibrium state, in Taurus. Together with the fact that Taurus cores are almost thermally supported, we conclude that starless Taurus cores evolve to star formation without dissipating turbulence. The critical equilibrium state in the virial analysis corresponds to the critical Bonnor-Ebert sphere in the Bonnor-Ebert analysis (Nakano 1998). It is suggested that the initial condition of the molecular cloud cores/globules for star formation is close to the critical equilibrium state/critical Bonnor-Ebert sphere, in the low-mass star forming region.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.47 no.6
• /
• pp.293-302
• /
• 2014

Simultaneous time monitoring observations of $H_2O$ $6_{16}-5_{23}$, SiO J = 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, and $^{29}SiO$ ${\upsilon}=0$, J = 1-0 lines are carried out in the direction of the Mira variable star TX Cam with the Korean VLBI Network single dish radio telescopes. For the first time, the $H_2O$ maser emission from TX Cam is detected near the stellar velocity at five epochs from April 10, 2013 (${\phi}=3.13$) to June 4, 2014 (${\phi}=3.89$) including minimum optical phases. The intensities of $H_2O$ masers are very weak compared to SiO masers. The variation of peak antenna temperature ratios among SiO ${\upsilon}=1$, J = 1-0, J = 2-1, and J = 3-2 masers is investigated according to their phases. The shift of peak velocities of $H_2O$ and SiO masers with respect to the stellar velocity is also investigated according to observed optical phases. The $H_2O$ maser emission occurs around the stellar velocity during our monitoring interval. On the other hand, the peak velocities of SiO masers show a spread compared to the stellar velocity. The peak velocities of SiO J = 2-1, and J = 3-2 masers show a smaller spread with respect to the stellar velocity than those of SiO J = 1-0 masers. These simultaneous observations of multi-frequencies will provide a good constraint for maser pumping models and a good probe for investigating the stellar atmosphere and envelope according to their different excitation conditions.