• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.117-122
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• 2012

The interstellar dust grains are formed and supplied to interstellar space from asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars or supernova remnants, and become constituents of the star- and planet-formation processes that lead to the next generation of stars. Both a qualitative, and a compositional study of this cycle are essential to understanding the origin of the pre-solar grains, the missing sources of the interstellar material, and the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. The AKARI/MIR all-sky survey was performed with two mid-infrared photometric bands centered at 9 and $18{\mu}m$. These data have advantages in detecting carbonaceous and silicate circumstellar dust of AGB stars, and the interstellar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons separately from large grains of amorphous silicate. By using the AKARI/MIR All-Sky point source catalogue, we surveyed C-rich and O-rich AGB stars in our Galaxy, which are the dominant suppliers of carbonaceous and silicate grains, respectively. The C-rich stars are uniformly distributed across the Galactic disk, whereas O-rich stars are concentrated toward the Galactic center, following the metallicity gradient of the interstellar medium, and are presumably affected by the environment of their birth place. We will compare the distributions of the dust suppliers with the distributions of the interstellar grains themselves by using the AKARI/MIR All-Sky diffuse maps. To enable discussions on the faint diffuse interstellar radiation, we are developing an accurate AKARI/MIR All-Sky diffuse map by correcting artifacts such as the ionising radiation effects, scattered light from the moon, and stray light from bright sources.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.56.1-56.1
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• 2014

With the advent of high-resolution high-sensitivity observations, spiral patterns have been revealed around several asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. Such patterns can provide possible evidence for the existence of central binary stars embedded in outflowing circumstellar envelopes. It is, however, not generally recognized that the binary induced pattern, vertically extended from the orbital plane, exhibits a ring-like pattern with an inclined viewing angle. I will first review the binary-induced spiral-shell patterns on the AGB circumstellar envelopes with the effect of inclination angle with respect to the orbital plane, of which large inclination cases reveal incomplete ring-like patterns. I will describe a method of extracting such spiral-shell from the gas kinematics of an incomplete ring-like pattern to place constraints on the characteristics of the (unknown) central binary stars. This first success may open the possibility of connecting the ring-like patterns commonly found in the AGB circumstellar envelopes and in the outer parts of (pre-)planetary nebulae and pointing to the conceivable presence of central binary systems, which may give a clue for the onset of asymmetrical planetary nebulae.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.56.2-56.2
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• 2012

We present a study of the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) contribution to the total Ks band luminosity of star clusters in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) as a function of age. AGB stars, a representative intermediate-age population, are a strong source of NIR to MIR emission so that they are a critical component for understanding the near-to-mid infrared observation of galaxies. Current calibration of IR emission in evolutionary population synthesis (EPS) models for galaxies is mainly based on a small number of LMC star clusters. However, each LMC star cluster with intermediate age contains only a few AGB stars so that it suffers from a stochastic effect. Therefore a large number of them are needed for solid calibration of the EPS models. We study physical properties of a large number of LMC star clusters to estimate the Ks band luminosity fraction of AGB stars in star clusters as a function of age. We discuss the stochastic effect in calibrating models, and the importance of this calibration for studying the evolution of not only nearby galaxies but also of high-z galaxies.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2006

We have modeled dust envelopes around silicate carbon stars using optical properties for a mixture of amorphous carbon and silicate dust grains paying close attention to the infrared observations of the stars. The 4 stars show various properties in chemistry and location of the dust shell. We expect that the objects that fit a simple detached silicate dust shell model could be in the transition phase of the stellar chemistry. For binary system objects, we find that a mixed dust chemistry model would be necessary.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.51.2-51.2
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• 2017

As a result of our decade-long effort, we developed a new approach wherein small-aperture telescope powered by ingeniously designed narrow-band filter systems can have the capability to measure not only the heavy but also the lighter elemental abundances of the red-giant branch (RGB) and asymptotic-giant branch (AGB) stars in the globular clusters. Our novel approach can complement the intrinsic weakness of the results from the prestigious instruments, such as HST and the VLT. In our talk, we will present the multiple stellar populations of the RGB and the AGB stars in M5, as a pilot work.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.123-133
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• 2010

In order to study properties of the pulsation in the infrared emission for long period variables, we collect and analyze the infrared observational data at L band for 12 OH/IR. The observation data cover about three decades including recent data from the ISO and Spitzer. We use the Marquardt-Levenberg algorithm to determine the pulsation period and amplitude for each star and compare them with results of previous investigations at infrared and radio bands. We obtain the relationship between the pulsation periods and the amplitudes at L band. Contrary to the results at K band, there is no difference of the trends in the short and long period regions of the period-luminosity relation at L band. This may be due to the molecular absorption effect at K band. The correlations among the L band parameters, IRAS [12-25] colors, and K band parameters may be explained as results of the dust shell parameters affected by the stellar pulsation. The large scatter of the correlation could be due to the existence of a distribution of central stars with various masses and pulsation modes.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.149-157
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• 2023

The propagation speed of a circumstellar pattern revealed in the plane of the sky is often assumed to represent the expansion speed of the wind matter ejected from a post-main-sequence star at the center. We point out that the often-adopted isotropic wind assumption and the binary hypothesis as the underlying origin for the circumstellar pattern in the shape of multilayered shells are, however, mutually incompatible. We revisit the hydrodynamic models for spiral-shell patterns induced by the orbital motion of a hypothesized binary, of which one star is losing mass at a high rate. The distributions of transverse wind velocities as a function of position angle in the plane of the sky are explored along viewing directions. The variation of the transverse wind velocity is as large as half the average wind velocity over the entire three dimensional domain in the simulated models investigated in this work. The directional dependence of the wind velocity is indicative of the overall morphology of the circumstellar material, implying that kinematic information is an important ingredient in modeling the snapshot monitoring (often in the optical and near-infrared) or the spectral imaging observations for molecular line emissions.

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

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.123-135
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• 2014

A silicate carbon star is a carbon star which shows circumstellar silicate dust features. We collect a sample of 44 silicate carbon stars from the literature and investigate the validity of the classification. For some objects, it is uncertain whether the central star is a carbon star. We confirm that 29 objects are verified silicate carbon stars. We classify the confirmed objects into three subclasses based on the evolution phase of the central star. To investigate the effect of the chemical transition phase from O to C, we use the radiative transfer models for the detached silicate dust shells. The spectral energy distributions and the infrared two-color diagrams of the silicate carbon stars are compared with the theoretical model results. For the chemical transition model without considering the effect of a disk, we find that the life time of the silicate feature is about 50 to 400 years depending on the initial dust optical depth.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.137-142
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• 2000

CN and CH band strengths for ten new bright giants in the globular cluster M15 have been measured from archival spectra obtained with the Multiple Mirror Telescope. Using published indices for other bright M15 giants, a CN-CH band strength anticorrelation is found for bright red giants. However, stars that do not follow the CN-CH anticorrelation are also found. They seem to show a positive correlation between the two indices. Among them, all the AGB and HB stars of the sample are included. Stars I-38 and X6, which are located near the RGB fiducial line in the CMD, have low measured CH(G) indices compared with other RGB stars. Stars IV-38, S4, and S1, which are all near the RGB tip, have strong measured CH(G) indices. Therefore, most of their evolutionary states are suspected to be different from those of a normal single RGB star.