• 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.44 no.1
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• pp.34.1-34.1
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• 2019

To study the formation and evolution of stellar bars and gaseous nuclear rings in barred galaxies in realistic environments, we run fully self-consistent three-dimensional simulations of isolated disk galaxies. We consider two groups of models with cold or warm disks that differ in the radial velocity dispersion. We also vary the gas fraction of the disks. We found that a bar forms earlier and more strongly as the gas fraction increases in the cold disks, while the gas delays the bar formation in the warm disks. The bar formation enhances a central mass concentration which in turn weakens the bar strength temporarily, after which the bar regrows to become stronger in a model with a smaller gas fraction in both cold and warm disks. Although all bars rotate fast in the beginning, they rapidly turn to slow rotators. Gas infalling to the central region forms a dense star-forming nuclear ring. The ring size is very small when it first forms and grows over time. The ring star formation is episodic and bursty due to star formation feedback, and has a good correlation with the mass inflow rate to the ring. Some expanding shells produced by star formation feedback are sheared out in the bar regions and collide with dust lanes to appear as filamentary interbar spurs.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.106.2-106.2
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• 2011

The two competing theories of star formation are based on turbulence and ambipoar diffusion. I will first briefly explain the two theories. There have been analytical (or semi-analytic) models, which estimate star formation rates in a turbulent cloud. Most of them are based on the log-normal density PDF (probability density function) of the turbulent cloud without self-gravity. I will first show that the core (star) formation rate can be increased significantly once self-gravity of a turbulence cloud is taken into account. I will then present the evolution of molecular line profiles of HCO+ and C18O toward a dense core that is forming inside a magnetized turbulent molecular cloud. Features of the profiles can be affected more significantly by coupled velocity and abundance structures in the outer region than those in the inner dense part of the core. During the evolution of the core, the asymmetry of line profiles easily changes from blue to red, and vice versa. Finally, I will introduce a method for incorporating ambipolar diffusion in the strong coupling approximation into a multidimensional magnetohydrodynamic code.

• 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.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.345-346
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• 2012

Starting from an infrared selected GALEX-SDSS-2MASS-AKARI sample of local star forming galaxies, we built mock samples from redshift 0 to 2.5 to investigate star formation rate (SFR) calibrations using WISE luminosities. We find W3 and W4 band fluxes can indicate SFRs with small scatters when the rest-frame wavelengths are longer than ${\sim}6{\mu}m$. When the wavelength becomes shorter, the observed luminosities are more tightly connected to the emission of old stellar populations than dust, therefore lose the reliability to trace the SFR. The current SFR calibrations are consistent with previous studies.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.77.2-77.2
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• 2015

Galaxies are known to evolve passively in the cluster environment. Indeed, much evidence for HI stripping has been found in cluster galaxies to date, which is likely to be connected to their low star formation rate. What is still puzzling however, is that the molecular gas, which is believed to be more directly related to star formation, shows no significant difference in its fraction between the cluster population and the field galaxies. Therefore, HI stripping alone does not seem to be enough to fully understand how galaxies become passive in galaxy clusters. Intriguingly, our recent high resolution CO study of a subsample of Virgo spirals which are undergoing strong ICM pressure has revealed a highly disturbed molecular gas morphology and kinematics. The morphological and kinematical peculiarities in their CO data have many properties in common with those of HI gas in the sample, indicating that strong ICM pressure in fact can have impacts on dense gas deep inside of a galaxy. This implies that it is the molecular gas conditions rather than the molecular gas stripping which is more responsible for quenching of star formation in cluster galaxies. In this study, using multi transitions of 12CO and 13CO, we investigate the density and temperature distributions of CO gas of a Virgo spiral galaxy, NGC 4402 to probe the physical and chemical properties of molecular gas and their relations to star formation activities.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.53.2-53.2
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• 2014

Radial color gradient of early type galaxies (ETGs) is a key tool for studying the evolution of these galaxies. In this work, we investigated whether ETGs having negative or positive color gradients show any distinguishable characteristics in the galaxy properties. We selected sample of 211 ETGs at 0.01 < z < 0.5 in the Spitzer FLS field, then we constructed u-R color gradients. We obtained the stellar mass, specific star formation rate and fluxes of emission lines of each ETG from MPA-JHU DR7 catalog. Spitzer IRAC and MIPS 24 micron data were used to detect dust emission from the ETGs. Preliminary result shows that less massive galaxies are likely to have positive color gradients, which is probably due to the ongoing star formation in the galaxy core. Almost all AGNs have negative color gradients. This probably is because AGNs are located in relatively massive galaxies with little ongoing star formation. There exists a marginal difference in the percentage of galaxies with PAH emission between ETGs having positive color gradient and negative color gradient. This also supports that ETGs with positive color gradient are galaxies having enhanced star formation.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.235-244
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• 2019

We present the results of near-infrared imaging observations of the galaxy overdensity around the z = 1.44 radio-loud active galactic nucleus (AGN) 6CE1100+3505, which was carried out with the purpose of sampling the redshifted Hα emission from the actively star-forming galaxies that could constitute the overdensity. The existence of the structure around this AGN was spectroscopically confirmed by previous grism observations which are however limited to the central region. Using the CH4Off narrow/medium-band and H broad band filters in the Wide Infrared Camera (WIRCam) on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), we constructed a sample of objects that show a flux excess in the CH4Off band due to line emission. The emission line flux is ~ 4.9 × 10^-16 erg s^-1 cm^-2, corresponding to a star formation rate (SFR) of ~ 50 M_⊙ yr^-1 for galaxies at redshifts z ~ 1.4. None of the galaxies with medium-band flux excess is located within 1 Mpc from the central AGN, and there is no evidence that the selected galaxies are associated with the proposed cluster. Along with the star formation quenching near the center that was found from the previous grism observations, the lack of extreme starbursts in the structure suggests that at z ~ 1.4, overdense regions are no longer favorable locations for vigorous star formation.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.28.1-28.1
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• 2015

Open clusters are one of stellar systems consisting of a few hundreds to thousands of stars. The cluster members are, in general, believed to be a coeval stellar population at the same distance, and therefore they have almost the same properties in chemical composition and kinematics. Owing to these advantages, the clusters are utilized in many astronomy studies, such as the calibrations of distance and stellar age scales, assessments of stellar evolution theories, and the chemical evolution of the Galactic disk. Young open clusters are, inter alia, superb objects to study star formation process as most of stars are known to be formed in clusters. In this talk, I will review the uses of these young open clusters in star formation studies based on the ongoing work of our research group on the stellar initial mass function, an age spread problem, mass accretion rate of pre-main sequence stars, and a feedback of high-mass stars on surroundings.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.50.1-50.1
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• 2013

Blue Compact Dwarf galaxies (BCDs) are systems which have been experiencing the bursts of star formation in their central region. As one of the origins of active star formation, tidal interaction (merger or fly-by between dwarf galaxies) has been suggested. A pair of BCDs, ESO 435-IG20 and ESO 435-IG16, are suspected to be a good example of such case. They are located at a similar redshift and separated only by ~130 kpc at their distances. In addition a bridge-like HI structure has been found between these two BCDs in the HIPASS survey. In this study, using the ATCA HI data of a much better resolution, we probe the gas morphology and kinematics of individual galaxies. We discuss how tidal interaction is responsible for the high star formation rate in this BCD pair.