• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.167-175
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• 2003

There is accumulating evidence for a strong link between nuclear starbursts and AGN. Molecular gas in the central regions of galaxies plays a critical role in fueling nuclear starburst activity and feeding central AGN. The dense molecular ISM is accreted to the nuclear regions by stellar bars and galactic interactions. Here we describe recent observational results for the OB star forming regions in M51 and the nuclear star burst in Arp 220 - both of which have approximately the same rate of star formation per unit mass of ISM. We suggest that the maximum efficiency for forming young stars is an Eddington-like limit imposed by the radiation pressure of newly formed stars acting on the interstellar dust. This limit corresponds to approximately 500 $L_{\bigodot} / M_{\bigodot}$ for optically thick regions in which the radiation has been degraded to the NIR. Interestingly, we note that some of the same considerations can be important in AGN where the source of fuel is provided by stellar evolution mass-loss or ISM accretion. Most of the stellar mass-loss occurs from evolving red giant stars and whether their mass-loss can be accreted to a central AGN or not depends on the radiative opacity of the mass-loss material. The latter depends on whether the dust survives or is sublimated (due to radiative heating). This, in turn, is determined by the AGN luminosity and the distance of the mass-loss stars from the AGN. Several AGN phenomena such as the broad emission and absorption lines may arise in this stellar mass-loss material. The same radiation pressure limit to the accretion may arise if the AGN fuel is from the ISM since the ISM dust-to-gas ratio is the same as that of stellar mass-loss.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.52 no.5
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• pp.181-205
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• 2019

There is evidence that the luminosities of Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) depend on their environments. While the impact of this trend on estimating cosmological parameters is widely acknowledged, the origin of this correlation is still under debate. In order to explore this problem, we first construct the YONSEI (YOnsei Nearby Supernova Evolution Investigation) SN catalog. The catalog consists of 1231 spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia over a wide redshift range (0.01 < z < 1.37) from various SN surveys and includes light-curve fit data from two independent light-curve fitters, SALT2 and MLCS2k2. For a sample of 674 host galaxies, we use the stellar mass and the star formation rate data in Kim et al. (2018). We find that SNe Ia in low-mass and star-forming host galaxies are $0.062{\pm}0.009mag$ and $0.057{\pm}0.010mag$ fainter than those in high-mass and passive hosts, after light-curve corrections with SALT2 and MLCS2k2, respectively. When only local environments of SNe Ia (e.g., locally star-forming and locally passive) are considered, this luminosity difference increases to $0.081{\pm}0.018mag$ for SALT2 and $0.072{\pm}0.018mag$ for MLCS2k2. Considering the significant difference in the mean stellar population age between the two environments, this result suggests that the luminosity evolution of SNe Ia with redshift is most likely the origin of the environmental dependence.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.399-412
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• 2015

We study the radio properties at 1.4 GHz of Seyfert galaxies with strong forbidden highionization lines (FHILs), selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey - a large-sized sample containing nearly equal proportion of diverse range of Seyfert galaxies showing similar redshift distributions compiled by using the Very Large Array survey images. The radio detection rate is low, 49%, which is lower than the detection rate of several other known Seyfert galaxy samples. These galaxies show low star formation rates and the radio emission is dominated by the active nucleus with ≤10% contribution from thermal emission, and possibly, none show evidence for relativistic beaming. The radio detection rate, distributions of radio power, and correlations between radio power and line luminosities or X-ray luminosity for narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1), Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies are consistent with the predictions of the unified scheme hypothesis. Using correlation between radio and [O III] λ 5007 Å luminosities, we show that ∼8% sample sources are radio-intermediate and the remaining are radio-quiet. There is possibly an ionization stratification associated with clouds on scales of 0.1-1.0 kpc, which have large optical depths at 1.4GHz, and it seems these clouds are responsible for free-free absorption of radio emission from the core; hence, leading to low radio detection rate for these FHIL-emitting Seyfert galaxies

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.113-123
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• 2015

We present observational results from optical long-slit spectroscopy of parsec-scale jets of DG Tau. From HH 158 and HH 702, the optical emission lines of Hα, [O i] λλ6300, 6363, [N ii] λλ6548, 6584, and [S ii] λλ6716, 6731 are obtained. The kinematics and physical properties (i.e., electron density, electron temperature, ionization fraction, and mass-loss rate) are investigated along the blueshifted jet up to 650′′ distance from the source. For HH 158, the radial velocity ranges from −50 to −250 km s⁻¹. The proper motion of the knots is 0.′′196 − 0.′′272 yr⁻¹. The electron density is ∼10⁴ cm⁻³ close to the star, and decreases to ∼10² cm⁻³ at 14′′ away from the star. Ionization fraction indicates that the gas is almost neutral in the vicinity of the source. It increases up to over 0.4 along the distance. HH 702 is located at 650′′ from the source. It shows ∼ −80 km s⁻¹ in the radial velocity. Its line ratios are similar to those at knot C of HH 158. The mass-loss rate is estimated to be about ∼ 10⁻⁷ M_⊙ yr⁻¹, which is similar to values obtained from previous studies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.71.2-71.2
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• 2012

Fly-by interactions of galaxies are hidden drivers of galaxy evolution: The impulsive encounters are by far more frequent than and thus as important as direct mergers, yet hard to identify observationally. Here we present the key characteristics of fly-bys that are examined theoretically via cosmological N-body simulations. In particular, we use the simulations generated by a particle-mesh tree code, GOTPM, and investigate the statistics of galactic fly-by interactions, which are defined by the total energy of two halos of interest being positive and their minimum distances escaping mergers. We discuss (1) the rate of fly-by interactions (the Fly-by Rate, $R_f$) as functions of(a) redshifts, (b) halo masses and mass ratios, and (c) environments, and (2) their impact on galaxy evolution in terms of morphology and star-formation rate, in comparison to that of direct mergers.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.50.1-50.1
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• 2012

As a tracer of star formation history, metallicity provides crucial information for understanding galaxy evolution. In the case AGN, gas metallicity is often derived from the flux ratio of UV emission lines, i.e., NV1240 and CIV1549. To investigate the dependence of metallicity on AGN luminosity, black hole mass, and accretion rate, we measure NV1240 and CIV1549 line fluxes and derive gas metallicity of a sample of 73 local Seyfert 1 galaxies and QSOs, using archival UV spectra obtained with the HST and IUE. In this work, we will present the metallicity of local AGN and its relation with AGN properties.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.66.1-66.1
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• 2010

Mass is one of the most fundamental quantities of a stellar object, and direct estimations of mass from the rotation kinematics of circumstellar disk are important in understanding the evolution of young stellar objects. We present our observations of the NGC 1333 IRAS 4A2 protostar in the ammonia lines. The emission structure was interpreted as a circumstellar disk around the protostar. The disk has a Keplerian-like rotation curve, and we derived the mass of the protostar. The mass, accretion rate, and age are consistent with what are expected from the standard theory of low-mass star formation.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.75.1-75.1
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• 2010

The first near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopic survey of SDSS-selected blue early-type galaxies (BEGs) has been conducted using the AKARI/IRC. The NIR spectra of 36 BEGs are successfully secured, which are well balanced in their SF/Seyfert/LINER type composition. For high signal-to-noise ratio, we stack the BEG spectra all and in bins of several properties: color, specific star formation rate and optically-determined spectral type. We estimate the NIR continuum slope and the 3.3 micron PAH emission equivalent width in the stacked BEG spectra, and compare them with those of SSP model galaxies and known ULIRGs. We first report the NIR spectral features of BEGs and discuss the nature of BEGs based on the comparison with other objects.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.29.2-29.2
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• 2010

We present elemental abundances of 412 blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs) at z=0.2~0.5 using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR7. The gas-phase nitrogen to oxygen abundance ratios (N/O) of sample galaxies increase as the oxygen to hydrogen abundance ratios (O/H) decrease. This indicates that the nitrogen is more enriched than the oxygen. We found that there is a noticeable distinction between the merger candidates and the isolated galaxies. Merging candidates show more enrichment of nitrogen abundance compared to isolated galaxies. On the other hand, neon and oxygen abundances for merging candidates are slightly lower than the isolated systems. We discuss the main cause of these trends with internal mixing and mass loss by fast rotation of young massive stars. We also discuss the environmental effect to the relation between specific star formation rate and galaxy mass.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.39.2-39.2
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• 2010

We have investigated the evolution of the galaxy morphology in the hierarchical universe taking advantage of Semi-Analytic Model (SAM). It is well known that the galaxy morphology is related to the dynamical and the chemical evolution. This implies that we need to understand overall physical processes in the galaxy to reproduce its morphology. Thus we implemented gradual hot gas stripping of satellite galaxies in a galaxy cluster and recycling of stellar mass losses into our model in order to describe star formation rate of galaxies accurately. To morphologically classify galaxies, the evolution of disc and bulge components is traced carefully. We compute our models based on the dark matter halo merger trees generated by N-body simulations as well as the Extended Press-Schechter (EPS) formalism. We present morphological differences caused by the use of different merger trees.