arXiv subjects

Bongkon Moon

Publications and source records attributed to Bongkon Moon.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

3.5-meter Segmented-Mirror Robotic Space Telescope Mission White Paper IV. Key Scientific Mission: Solar-System Small Bodies and Planetary Defense

The baseline 0.2--1.5 $\mu$m observatory provides rapid-response astrometry, visible and near-infrared taxonomy, rotation and phase curves, recovery, and long-arc orbit improvement for near-Earth objects and other small bodies. The instrument study also evaluates calibrated throughput to 2.70 $\mu$m with a 3.0 $\mu$m operational band-edge goal. A reduction to 2.5 $\mu$m remains the formal engineering off-ramp if thermal, detector, cooling, mass, power, or cost constraints require it. The 3.5-meter Segmented-Mirror Robotic Space Telescope does not carry a mid-infrared channel. Coordinated ground-based mid-infrared telescopes provide the thermal fluxes required to infer diameter and albedo, while the space mission supplies contemporaneous reflected-light measurements and observing geometry. The program combines recovery, physical characterization, orbit refinement, and covariance-based hazard assessment. Its CODES dynamics system and OGFinder-to-OpenOrb processing path connect measured astrometry to reproducible orbit solutions and close-approach predictions.

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arXiv2026

3.5-meter Segmented-Mirror Robotic Space Telescope Mission White Paper V. Key Scientific Mission: Compact-Object Time-Domain Science

An isolated compact object retains the point-source resolving power of the space-based slitless spectrograph. The baseline wavelength range is 0.2--1.5 $\mu$m. The planning baseline uses $R \simeq 1000$ for broad and faint transient spectra and reserves selectable bands at $R \simeq 5000$ for accretion-disk profiles, velocity structure, and precision line ratios. Broad features can be measured after binning the native $R \simeq 5000$ data to lower resolution. Rapid-response spectroscopy follows gravitational-wave counterparts and kilonovae from hours to days. Repeated spectra of dwarf novae and compact binaries trace accretion state and orbital phase, while uninterrupted imaging of white dwarfs measures pulsation frequencies. The program combines mission-based monitoring with external alerts, including KGMT transient detections. The instrument study must preserve calibrated throughput to 2.70 $\mu$m and evaluate a 3.0 $\mu$m operational band edge, with 2.5 $\mu$m retained as the formal engineering off-ramp. Mid-infrared imaging is not part of the adopted compact-object baseline.

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arXiv2026

3.5-meter Segmented-Mirror Robotic Space Telescope Mission White Paper I. Overall Architecture and Scientific Mission

A 3.5-meter segmented-mirror robotic space telescope is under study as a space-based observatory for precision astrophysical observations and rapid-response transient astronomy in the 0.2-1.5 micron wavelength range. The telescope adopts a Cassegrain optical configuration optimized to deliver diffraction-limited performance across a wide, flat focal plane, achieving a Strehl ratio greater than 0.8 at 633 nm. The proposed scientific payload includes a Wide-field Camera (WC), a spectroscopic instrument, and an optional Exoplanet Imaging Coronagraph. The Wide-field Camera (WC) provides multi-wavelength imaging and high-cadence time-series photometry over a field of view ranging from 10'X10' to 30'X30'. The spectroscopic configuration and resolving power remain under study to accommodate the requirements of the principal science programs. An optional Exoplanet Imaging Coronagraph is being investigated for high-contrast imaging of nearby planetary systems, with performance goals extending toward raw contrasts of approximately 10^(-8) and improved post-processed performance. Candidate orbital configurations, including Earth orbit and the Sun-Earth L2 region, are currently being evaluated. Planned investigations include gravitational-wave counterparts, rapidly evolving transients, Type Ia supernova cosmology, direct imaging of exoplanets, and exoplanet atmospheric spectroscopy. Although driven by these core scientific objectives, the observatory is conceived as a general-purpose facility providing open-access observing time to the international scientific community. This paper presents the preliminary architecture, performance goals, and scientific mission of the proposed 3.5-meter space telescope.

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arXiv2026

3.5-meter Segmented-Mirror Robotic Space Telescope Mission White Paper II. Key Scientific Mission: Wide-Field Cosmology and Galaxy Evolution

The 3.5-meter Segmented-Mirror Robotic Space Telescope uses an image slicer for all spectroscopic observations. The planning baseline uses $R \simeq 1000$ for the wide survey and retains selectable $R \simeq 5000$ bands for precision line measurements. The central science case is a dense emission-line galaxy redshift survey for baryon acoustic oscillations and redshift-space distortions. Supernova and quasar programs exploit the stability, multiplexing, and repeatability of space operations. The supernova tier measures rest-frame U and near-ultraviolet magnitudes that separate optical twins at subgroup precision to $z \simeq 0.9$--$1.1$ in standard visits and to $z \simeq 1.3$--$1.5$ in ten-hour stacks. Every wide-survey tile receives three spectroscopic orientations, and a joint scene reconstruction uses their different overlap geometries to recover the spectra. The flagship survey covers 100--300 deg$^2$ and targets $10^6$--$3 \times 10^6$ emission-line galaxies. A deep pencil-beam tier and a supernova time-domain tier complement the wide survey. The same observations provide a census of ultra-diffuse and low-surface-brightness galaxies, map intracluster light, and test cold, self-interacting, and fuzzy dark matter through dwarf-galaxy structure and low-mass halo abundance.

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arXiv2026

3.5-meter Segmented-Mirror Robotic Space Telescope Mission White Paper III. Key Scientific Mission: Exoplanet Science with a Coronagraph

This volume defines the exoplanet science program enabled by the dedicated high-contrast coronagraph in the baseline science payload of the 3.5-meter Segmented-Mirror Robotic Space Telescope. The observatory architecture incorporates the optical interfaces, wavefront sensing and control, pointing stability, and operations software required for coronagraphic observations from the outset. The observing strategy gives priority to the nearest stellar systems because they provide the most accessible laboratories for planetary exploration and the most likely destinations of future interstellar missions. The diffraction limit sets a reflected-light horizon of roughly 10--15 pc for planets at 1 AU and roughly 50--80 pc for Jupiter analogs. Within those horizons, the telescope can image nearby giant planets, obtain reflected-light spectra of their atmospheres, survey young systems and circumstellar disks, and support the habitability and biosignature programs that larger future missions will pursue. The wide-field imager complements the coronagraph through transit photometry, occurrence-rate statistics, and long-term monitoring of stellar magnetic activity. A systematic census of the nearest stellar neighbors provides a lasting reference for exoplanet science and future space exploration.

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arXiv2018

MIRIS Paα Galactic Plane Survey. I. Comparison with IPHAS Hα in l = 96°-116°

The Multipurpose InfraRed Imaging System (MIRIS) performed the MIRIS Paα Galactic Plane Survey (MIPAPS), which covers the entire Galactic plane within the latitude range of -3° < b < +3° at Paα (1.87 um). We present the first result of the MIPAPS data extracted from the longitude range of l = 96.5°-116.3°, and demonstrate the data quality and scientific potential of the data by comparing them with Hα maps obtained from the INT Photometric Hα Survey (IPHAS) data. We newly identify 90 H II region candidates in the WISE H II region catalog as definite H II regions by detecting the Paα and/or Hα recombination lines, out of which 53 H II regions are detected at Paα. We also report the detection of additional 29 extended and 18 point-like sources at Paα. We estimate the E(B-V) color excesses and the total Lyman continuum luminosities for H II regions by combining the MIPAPS Paα and IPHAS Hα fluxes. The E(B-V) values are found to be systematically lower than those estimated from point stars associated with H II regions. Utilizing the MIPAPS Paα and IPHAS Hα images, we obtain an E(B-V) map for the entire region of the H II region Sh2-131 with an angular size of ~2.5°. The E(B-V) map shows not only numerous high-extinction filamentary features but also negative E(B-V) regions, indicating Hα excess. The Hα excess and the systematic underestimation of E(B-V) are attributed to light scattered by dust.

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arXiv2008

Multi-color Near Infra-red Intra-day and Short Term Variability of the Blazar S5 0716+714

In this paper, we report results of our near-infrared (NIR) photometric variability studies of the BL Lacertae object S5 0716+714. NIR photometric observations spread over 7 nights during our observing run April 2-9, 2007 at 1.8 meter telescope equipped with KASINICS (Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute Near Infrared Camera System) and J, H, and Ks filters at Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (BOAO), South Korea. We searched for intra-day variability, short term variability and color variability in the BL Lac object. We have not detected any genuine intra-day variability in any of J, H, and Ks passbands in our observing run. Significant short term variability ~ 32.6%, 20.5% and 18.2% have been detected in J, H, Ks passbands, respectively, and ~ 11.9% in (J-H) color.

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