• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.27-70
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• 1997

The brightest stars in galaxies have been used as distance indicators since Hubble. However, the accuracy of the brightest stars for distance estimates has been controversial. Recently, Rozanski & Rowan-Robinson [1994 : MNRAS, 271, 530] argued large errors of this method for the distance determination : 0.58 mag and 0.90 mag, respectively, for the brightest red stars and the brightest blue stars, while Karachentsev & Tikhonov [1994 : A&A, 286, 718] suggested much smaller errors in the distance determination than the former: 0.37 mag for the brightest red stars and 0.46 mag for the brightest blue stars. The reasons for these conflicting results are not yet known. In this study we have investigated the accuracy of this method using a sample of 17 galaxies for which Cepheid distances are known and reliable photometry of the brightest stars are available. We have obtained the calibrations of the relations between the mean luminosities of the three blue and red brightest supergiants (BSGs and RSGs, respectively) and the total luminosities of the parent galaxies: $= 0.21M_B^T- 3.84, \sigma(M_v) = 0.37 mag,\;and\;\delta_{\mu0}=0.47$ mag for the brightest red supergiants, and $= 0.30M_B^T -3.02, \sigma(M_B)\;=\;0.55 mag,\;and\; \delta_{\mu0}=0.79mag$ for the brightest blue supergiants. Also it is found that the errors in the distance determination are reduced by a factor of two, as the observing wavelengths increase from B-band to K-band. In conclusion, the brightest red supergiants are considered to be useful for determining the distances to resolved late-type galaxies.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.87-88
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• 2015

We present results of our R-band polarimetry of a bright-rimmed cloud, IC1396A (with BRC 36), associated with the H II region S131 and the cometary globule LDN 1616 to study their magnetic field geometry. The distances of these clouds have been reported to be ~ 750 pc and ~ 450 pc, respectively in the literature. The young open cluster Trumpler 37 in the vicinity of IC1396A and the high mass stars in the Orion belt near L1616 are found to be responsible for the structure of these clouds. We made polarimetry of foreground stars inferred from their distances measured by the Hipparcos satellite to subtract the foreground contribution to the observed polarization results. We discuss the optical polarimetric results and compare our findings with MHD simulations towards BRCs and CGs.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.153-159
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• 2010

Color excesses of classical Cepheids in the uvby color system are estimated for the calibration stars with distances from the literature that are measured independently. Intrinsic photometric indices for these stars are calculated and a calibrated empirical relation between (b - y)$_0$, period, [$c_1$], and [$m_1$] is derived through a linear fit. This relation is used to determine color excesses E(b-y) for 59 Cepheids. We also examine the period-color [log P : (b - y)$_0$] relation, and find no signs of nonlinearity. We estimate the effective temperature and surface gravity of several Cepheids using both Kurucz and MARCS/SSG grids for [Fe=H]=0.0. We confirm that both temperature and surface gravity are higher, by about 150K and 0.4 respectively, when the MARCS/SSG atmospheric grids are used.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.40.2-40.2
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• 2019

Measuring distances at cosmological scales is one of the most important, yet most difficult to acquire astronomical quantities, allowing astronomers to determine the expansion rate of the universe. Typically, astronomers have sought to find "standard candles" that have a known intrinsic brightness in order to determine their distance. The most well known standard candles are Type 1a supernova and Cepheid variable stars making the so-called "distance ladder". Here we present a method for determining cosmological distances via light travel-time arguments, which can be extended from nearby sources to very high redshift sources.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.189-191
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• 2015

The calibration of the period luminosity relation (PLR) for Galactic Mira variables is one of the principle aims of the VERA project. We observe $H_2O$ maser emission at 22 GHz associated with Mira variables in order to determine their distances based on annual parallaxes. We conduct multi-epoch VLBI observations over 1-2 years with a typical interval of one month using VERA in order to obtain annual parallaxes with an accuracy of better than than 10%. Recently, the annnual parallax of T Lep was determined to be $3.06{\pm}0.04$ mas corresponding to a distance of $327{\pm}4pc$ (Nakagawa et al., 2014). The circumstellar distribution and kinematics of $H_2O$ masers was also revealed. With accurate distances to the sources, calibrations of K-band absolute magnitudes ($M_K$) can be improved compared to conventional studies. By compiling Mira variables whose distances were determined with astrometric VLBI, we obtained a PLR of $M_K=3.51logP+1.37{\pm}0.07$.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.19
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• pp.27.2-28
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• 1994

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.277-289
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• 1998

We report V-(B - V) CCD Color Magnitude Diagrams (CMDs) for 23 southern Galactic globular clusters. Limiting magnitudes for each cluster are between 18 and 20 magnitudes in V. Most CMDs show subgiant starts, red giant stars, and horizontal branch stars. From the CMDs, we have determined the horizontal branch magnitudes, V(HB), reddenings, E(B - V), and distances of each cluster.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.423-428
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• 2005

The main physical parameters; the cluster center, distance, radius, age, reddening, and visual absorbtion; have been re-estimated and improved for the open cluster NGC 7086. The metal abundance, galactic distances, membership richness, luminosity function, mass function, and the total mass of NGC 7086 have been examined for the first time here using Monet et al. (2003) catalog.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.29 no.spc1
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• pp.127-128
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• 1996

The solar neighbourhood is the starting point for studies of the structure and evolution of the Galactic disk. Yet, our knowledge of the relative frequencies, distances, ages, chemical abundances, velocities, and birthplaces of the nearby stars is severely incomplete. We have determined complete, homogeneous, and precise such data for a kinematically unbiased sample of $\~$12,000 local F and G dwarf stars and describe a first, significant result from it.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.144.1-144.1
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• 2011

We explore the metallicity distribution of the Galactic halo based on the SDSS ugriz photometry. We use empirically calibrated sets of stellar isochrones to determine distances and metallicities of individual main-sequence stars in the halo. At heliocentric distances greater than 5 kpc, we find that the in situ photometric metallicity distribution reveals chemically divided dual halo components, which supports arguments from earlier studies based on the medium resolution spectroscopy. Our finding provides an unbiased estimate of relative fractions of each of these stellar components in the Galactic halo.