• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.235-242
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• 2013

We compare mass-loss rates of OH/IR stars obtained from radio observations with those derived from the dust radiative transfer models and IR observations. We collect radio observational data of OH maser and CO line emission sources for a sample of 1533 OH/IR stars listed in Suh & Kwon (2011). For 1259 OH maser, 76 CO(J=1-0), and 55 CO(J=2-1) emission sources, we compile data of the expansion velocity and mass-loss rate. We use a dust radiative transfer model for the dust shell to calculate the mass-loss rate as well as the IR color indices. The observed mass-loss rates are in the range predicted by the theoretical dust shell models corresponding to $\dot{M}=10^{-8}M_{\odot}/yr-10^{-4}M_{\odot}/yr$. We find that the dust model using a simple mixture of amorphous silicate and amorphous $Al_2O_3$ (20% by mass) grains can explain the observations fairly well. The results indicate that the dust radiative transfer models for IR observations generally agree with the radio observations. For high mass-loss rate OH/IR stars, the mass-loss rates obtained from radio observations are underestimated compared to the mass-loss rates derived from the dust shell models. This could be because photon momentum transfer to the gas shell is not possible for the physical condition of high mass-loss rates. Alternative explanations could be the effects of different dust-to-gas ratios and/or a superwind.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1984

Under the context of Stein's linear theory of stellar models, the luminosity-effective temperature relationship is derived for contracting pre-main sequence stars which are losing mass, according to the empirical formula, given by Reimers (1975). The effects of mass loss on their evolution are investigated by calculating evolutionary tracks of 1. $1.5M_{\odot}$, $5M_{\odot}$, and $10M_{\odot}$, stars. Our calculations reveal that the effects of mass loss show up in the radiative equilibrium stage of the evolution. It is found that an increase of mass loss rate leads to delay the onset of radiative equilibrium, thus resulting in under-luminous main sequence stars. It is also noted that the mass loss prolongs the pre-main sequence life time. Detailed results of the calculations are discussed.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.267-270
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• 2005

We investigate the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of low mass-loss rate O-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars using the infrared observational data including the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) data. Comparing the results of detailed radiative transfer model calculations with observations, we find that the dust formation temperature is much lower than 1000 K for standard dust shell models. We find that the superwind model with a density-enhanced region can be a possible alternative dust shell model for LMOA stars.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.219-233
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• 2014

The main site of dust formation is believed to be the cool envelopes around AGB stars. Nearly all AGB stars can be identified as long-period variables (LPVs) with large amplitude pulsation. Shock waves produce by the strong pulsation and radiation pressure on newly formed dust grains drive dusty stellar winds with high mass-loss rates. IR observations of AGB stars identify various dust species in different physical conditions. Radio observations of gas phase materials are helpful to understand the overall properties of the stellar winds. In this paper, we review (i) classification of AGB stars; (ii) IR two-color diagrams of AGB stars; (iii) pulsation of AGB stars; (iv) dust around AGB stars including dusty stellar winds; (v) dust envelopes around AGB stars; (vi) mass-loss and evolution of AGB stars; and (vii) contribution of AGB dust to galactic environments. We discuss various observational evidences and their theoretical interpretations.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.283-287
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• 2015

Within the context of the hugely successful SAGE-LMC and SAGE-SMC surveys, Spitzer photometry observations of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds have revealed millions of infrared point sources in each galaxy. The brightest infrared sources are generally dust producing and mass-losing evolved stars, and several tens of thousands of such stars have been classified. After photometrically classifying these objects, the dust production by several kinds of evolved stars - such as Asymptotic Giant Branch stars and Red Supergiants - can be determined. SAGE-Spec is the spectroscopic follow-up to the SAGE-LMC survey, and it has obtained Spitzer-IRS $5-40{\mu}m$ spectroscopy of about 200 sources in the LMC. Combined with archival data from other programs, observations at a total of ~1000 pointings have been obtained in the LMC, while ~250 IRS pointings were observed in the SMC. Of these, a few hundred pointings represent dust producing and mass-losing evolved stars, covering a range in colors, luminosities, and thus mass-loss rates. Red Supergiants and O-rich and C-rich AGB stars - the main dust producers - are well represented in the spectroscopic sample. This paper will summarize what we know about the mineralogy of dust producing evolved stars, and discuss their relative importance in the total dust budget.

• 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.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.42.3-42.3
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• 2020

We investigate the observational properties of Wolf-Rayet stars, suggest the constraint of their mass-loss rate and apply our results to the observed progenitor candidates of Type Ib/Ic supernovae (iPTF13bvn and SN 2017ein). For this purpose, we adopt the WR star models with various mass-loss rates and wind terminal velocities. We obtain the high resolution spectra of those models at the pre-supernova phase using the radiative transfer code CMFGEN. We verify the optically faint property of SN Ic progenitors and show that the optical faintness is mainly originated by the high effective temperature at the photosphere. We also show that a simple analytic model for WR winds using a constant opacity can roughly predict the photospheric parameters. We show that the change of the mass-loss rate and the terminal wind velocity critically affects the optical luminosity. We find the optical luminosities of SN Ic progenitor models with our fiducial mass-loss rate prescription are fainter than the detection limits. We also suggest the mass-loss rate of WR stars may not exceed 2 times of our fiducial value by comparing our predictions with the detection limit of SN Ib/Ic progenitors. The directly observed progenitor candidate of iPTF13bvn can be explained by our SN Ib progenitor models. We find that the SN 2017ein progenitor candidate is too bright and too blue to be a SN Ic progenitor.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.118.1-118.1
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• 2014

Stars create and expel new chemical elements and dust at the end of the stellar life cycle. Therefore, understanding the evolved stars, their mass loss process, and the conditions of the returning material to be mixed with the surrounding interstellar medium is an important step toward studies on the new generation of stars as well as the evolution of cosmic elements in galactic scale. I will review the first results from the ALMA Early Science on the evolved stars and direct future works.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.37-48
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• 2018

Massive stars blow powerful stellar winds throughout their evolutionary stages from the main sequence to Wolf-Rayet phases. The amount of mechanical energy deposited in the interstellar medium by the wind from a massive star can be comparable to the explosion energy of a core-collapse supernova that detonates at the end of its life. In this study, we estimate the kinetic energy deposition by massive stars in our Galaxy by considering the integrated Galactic initial mass function and modeling the stellar wind luminosity. The mass loss rate and terminal velocity of stellar winds during the main sequence, red supergiant, and Wolf-Rayet stages are estimated by adopting theoretical calculations and observational data published in the literature. We find that the total stellar wind luminosity due to all massive stars in the Galaxy is about ${\mathcal{L}}_w{\approx}1.1{\times}10^{41}erg\;s^{-1}$, which is about 1/4 of the power of supernova explosions, ${\mathcal{L}}_{SN}{\approx}4.8{\times}10^{41}erg\;s^{-1}$. If we assume that ~ 1 - 10 % of the wind luminosity could be converted to Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) through collisonless shocks such as termination shocks in stellar bubbles and superbubbles, colliding-wind shocks in binaries, and bow-shocks of massive runaway stars, stellar winds might be expected to make a significant contribution to GCR production, though lower than that of supernova remnants.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.59.4-60
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• 2016

One important aspect of the late stage stellar evolution is the mass loss processes, where a significant amount of stellar material will be returned to the interstellar space to be used for stars of the next generation. Raman scattered O VI and He II by atomic hydrogen in symbiotic stars and young planetary nebulae are found to be excellent tools to investigate the mass loss processes and estimate the mass loss rate. These features appear near hydrogen Balmer emission lines due to the huge cross section in the vicinity of Lyman resonance transitions. With the capability of high spectral resolution and broad spectral coverage, BOES is an ideal instrument to perform Raman spectroscopy of these objects. In this talk, a cursory overview of our research activities on Raman spectroscopy of symbiotics and PNe using the BOES is presented.