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Myung Gyoon Lee

Publications and source records attributed to Myung Gyoon Lee.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

SUBARU Spectroscopy of the Globular Clusters in the Virgo Giant Elliptical Galaxy M86

We present the first spectroscopic study of the globular clusters (GCs) in the giant elliptical galaxy (gE) M86 in the Virgo cluster. Using spectra obtained in the Multi-Object Spectroscopy (MOS) mode of the Faint Object Camera and Spectrograph (FOCAS) on the Subaru telescope, we measure the radial velocities for 25 GCs in M86. The mean velocity of the GCs is derived to be vp = -354+81 -79 km/s, which is different from the velocity of the M86 nucleus (vgal = -234\pm41 km/s). We estimate the velocity dispersion of the GCs, σp = 292+32-32 km/s, and find a hint of rotation of the M86 GC system. A comparison of the observed velocity dispersion profiles of the GCs and stars with a prediction based on the stellar mass profile strongly suggests the existence of an extended dark matter halo in M86. We also estimate the metallicities and ages for 16 and 8 GCs, respectively. The metallicities of M86 GCs are in the range -2.0 < [Fe/H] < -0.2 with a mean value of -1.13\pm0.47. These GCs show a wide age distribution from 4 to 15 Gyr.

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AKARI Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of Luminous Infrared Galaxies

We present the AKARI near-infrared (NIR; 2.5-5 micron) spectroscopic study of 36 (ultra)luminous infrared galaxies [(U)LIRGs] at z=0.01-0.4. We measure the NIR spectral features including the strengths of 3.3 micron polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission and hydrogen recombination lines (Brα. and Brβ), optical depths at 3.1 and 3.4 micron, and NIR continuum slope. These spectral features are used to identify optically elusive, buried AGN. We find that half of the (U)LIRGs optically classified as non-Seyferts show AGN signatures in their NIR spectra. Using a combined sample of (U)LIRGs with NIR spectra in the literature, we measure the contribution of buried AGN to the infrared luminosity from the SED-fitting to the IRAS photometry. The contribution of these buried AGN to the infrared luminosity is 5-10%, smaller than the typical AGN contribution of (U)LIRGs including Seyfert galaxies (10-40%). We show that NIR continuum slopes correlate well with WISE [3.4]-[4.6] colors, which would be useful for identifying a large number of buried AGN using the WISE data.

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Discovery of the most isolated globular cluster in the local universe

We report the discovery of two new globular clusters in the remote halos of M81 and M82 in the M81 Group based on Hubble Space Telescope archive images. They are brighter than typical globular clusters (MV = -9.34 mag for GC-1 and M_V = -10.51 mag for GC-2), and much larger than known globular clusters with similar luminosity in the MilkyWay Galaxy and M81. Radial surface brightness profiles for GC-1 and GC-2 do not show any features of tidal truncation in the outer part. They are located much farther from both M81 and M82 in the sky, compared with previously known star clusters in these galaxies. Color-magnitude diagrams of resolved stars in each cluster show a well-defined red giant branch (RGB), indicating that they are metal-poor and old. We derive a low metallicity with [Fe/H] $\simeq -2.3$ and an old age ~14 Gyr for GC-2 from the analysis of the absorption lines in its spectrum in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in comparison with the simple stellar population models. The I-band magnitude of the tip of the RGB for GC-2 is 0.26 mag fainter than that for the halo stars in the same field, showing that GC-2 is ~400 kpc behind the M81 halo along our line of sight. The deprojected distance to GC-2 from M81 is much larger than any other known globular clusters in the local universe. This shows that GC-2 is the most isolated globular cluster in the local universe.

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Early type galaxies with tidal debris and their scaling relations in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G)

Tidal debris around galaxies can yield important clues on their evolution. We have identified tidal debris in 11 early type galaxies (T \leq 0) from a sample of 65 early types drawn from the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G). The tidal debris includes features such as shells, ripples and tidal tails. A variety of techniques, including two-dimensional decomposition of galactic structures, was used to quantify the residual tidal features. The tidal debris contributes ~3 - 10% to the total 3.6 μm luminosity of the host galaxy. Structural parameters of the galaxies were estimated using two-dimensional profile fitting. We investigate the locations of galaxies with tidal debris in the Fundamental Plane and Kormendy relation. We find that galaxies with tidal debris lie within the scatter of early type galaxies without tidal features. Assuming that the tidal debris is indicative of recent gravitational interaction or merger, this suggests that these galaxies have either undergone minor merging events so that the overall structural properties of the galaxies are not significantly altered, or they have undergone a major merging events but already have experienced sufficient relaxation and phase-mixing so that their structural properties become similar to those of the non-interacting early type galaxies.

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Do Bars Trigger Activity in Galactic Nuclei?

We investigate the connection between the presence of bars and AGN activity, using a volume-limited sample of $\sim$9,000 late-type galaxies with axis ratio $b/a>0.6$ and $M_{r} < -19.5+5{\rm log}h$ at low redshift ($0.02\le z\lesssim 0.055$), selected from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 7. We find that the bar fraction in AGN-host galaxies (42.6%) is $\sim$2.5 times higher than in non-AGN galaxies (15.6%), and that the AGN fraction is a factor of two higher in strong-barred galaxies (34.5%) than in non-barred galaxies (15.0%). However, these trends are simply caused by the fact that AGN-host galaxies are on average more massive and redder than non-AGN galaxies because the fraction of strong-barred galaxies ($\bfrsbo$) increases with $u-r$ color and stellar velocity dispersion. When $u-r$ color and velocity dispersion (or stellar mass) are fixed, both the excess of $\bfrsbo$ in AGN-host galaxies and the enhanced AGN fraction in strong-barred galaxies disappears. Among AGN-host galaxies we find no strong difference of the Eddington ratio distributions between barred and non-barred systems. These results indicate that AGN activity is not dominated by the presence of bars, and that AGN power is not enhanced by bars. In conclusion we do not find a clear evidence that bars trigger AGN activity.

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Star Formation and AGN activity in Galaxies classified using the 1.6 μm Bump and PAH features at $z = 0.4-2$

We have studied the star-formation and AGN activity of massive galaxies in the redshift range $z=0.4-2$, which are detected in a deep survey field using the AKARI InfraRed (IR) astronomical satellite and {\em Subaru} telescope toward the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP). The AKARI/IRC Mid-InfraRed (MIR) multiband photometry is used to trace their star-forming activities with the Polycyclic-Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) emissions, which is also used to distinguish star-forming populations from AGN dominated ones and to estimate the Star Formation Rate (SFR) derived from their total emitting IR (TIR) luminosities. In combination with analyses of their stellar components, we have studied the MIR SED features of star-forming and AGN-harboring galaxies.

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AKARI Observation of the North Ecliptic Pole (NEP) Supercluster at z = 0.087: mid-infrared view of transition galaxies

We present the mid-infrared (MIR) properties of galaxies within a supercluster in the North Ecliptic Pole region at z?0.087 observed with the AKARI satellite. We use data from the AKARI NEP-Wide (5.4 deg2) IR survey and the CLusters of galaxies EVoLution studies (CLEVL) mission program. We show that near-IR (3 μm)-mid- IR (11 μm) color can be used as an indicator of the specific star formation rate and the presence of intermediate age stellar populations. From the MIR observations, we find that red-sequence galaxies consist not only of passively evolving red early-type galaxies, but also of 1) "weak-SFG" (disk-dominated star-forming galaxies which have star formation rates lower by \sim 4 \times than blue-cloud galaxies), and 2) "intermediate- MXG" (bulge-dominated galaxies showing stronger MIR dust emission than normal red early-type galaxies). Those two populations can be a set of transition galaxies from blue, star-forming, late-type galaxies evolving into red, quiescent, early-type ones. We find that the weak-SFG are predominant at intermediate masses (1010M\odot < M\star < 1010.5M\odot) and are typically found in local densities similar to the outskirts of galaxy clusters. As much as 40% of the supercluster member galaxies in this mass range can be classified as weak-SFGs, but their proportion decreases to < 10% at larger masses (M\star > 1010.5 M\odot) at any galaxy density. The fraction of the intermediate-MXG among red- sequence galaxies at 1010M\odot < M\star < 1011M\odot also decreases as the density and mass increase. In particular, \sim42% of the red-sequence galaxies with early-type morphologies are classified as intermediate-MXG at intermediate densities. These results suggest that the star formation activity is strongly dependent on the stellar mass, but that the morphological transformation is mainly controlled by the environment.

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Dependence of Barred Galaxy Fraction on Galaxy Properties and Environment

We investigate the dependence of occurrence of bars in galaxies on galaxy properties and environment. We use a volume-limited sample of 33,391 galaxies brighter than $M_{r}=-19.5+5$log$h$ at $0.02\le z\le0.05489$, drawn from the SDSS DR 7. We classify the galaxies into early and late types, and identify bars by visual inspection. Among 10,674 late-type galaxies with axis ratio $b/a>0.60$, we find 3,240 barred galaxies ($f_{bar}=30.4%$) which divide into 2,542 strong bars ($f_{SB1}=23.8%$) and 698 weak bars ($f_{SB2}=6.5%$). We find that $f_{SB1}$ increases as $u-r$ color becomes redder, and that it has a maximum value at intermediate velocity dispersion ($σ\simeq$150 km s$^{-1}$). This trend suggests that strong bars are dominantly hosted by intermediate-mass systems. Weak bars prefer bluer galaxies with lower mass and lower concentration. In the case of strong bars, their dependence on the concentration index appears only for massive galaxies with $σ>150$ km s$^{-1}$. We also find that $f_{bar}$ does not directly depend on the large-scale background density when other physical parameters ($u-r$ color or $σ$) are fixed. We discover that $f_{SB1}$ decreases as the separation to the nearest neighbor galaxy becomes smaller than 0.1 times the virial radius of the neighbor regardless of neighbor's morphology. These results imply that strong bars are likely to be destroyed during strong tidal interactions, and that the mechanism for this phenomenon is gravitational and not hydrodynamical. The fraction of weak bars has no correlation with environmental parameters. We do not find any direct evidence for environmental stimulation of bar formation.

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A Photometric Study of Five Open Clusters in the SDSS

We present a photometric study of five open clusters (Czernik 5, Alessi 53, Berkeley 49, Berkeley 84, and Pfleiderer 3) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The position and size of these clusters are determined using the radial number density profiles of the stars, and the member stars of the clusters are selected using the proper motion data in the literature. We estimate the reddening, distance, and age of the clusters based on the isochrone fitting in the color-magnitude diagram. The foreground reddenings for these clusters are estimated to be E(B-V) = 0.71 - 1.55 mag. The distances to these clusters are derived to be 2.0 - 4.4 kpc, and their distances from the Galactic center range from 7.57 kpc to 12.35 kpc. Their ages are in the range from 250 Myr to 1 Gyr. Berkeley 49 and Berkeley 84 are located in the Orion spur, Czernik 5 is in the Perseus arm, and Pfleiderer 3 and Alessi 53 are at beyond the Perseus arm.

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Extended Star Clusters in the Remote Halo of the Intriguing Dwarf Galaxy NGC 6822

We present a study on four new star clusters discovered in the halo of the intriguing dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 6822 from a wide field survey covering 3 deg x 3 deg area carried out with MegaCam at Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). The star clusters have extended structures with half-light radii R_h ~ 7.5 -- 14.0 pc, larger than typical Galactic globular clusters and other known globular clusters in NGC 6822. The integrated colors and color magnitude diagrams (CMD) of resolved stars suggest that the new star clusters are 2 -- 10 Gyr old and relatively metal poor with Z=0.0001--0.004 based on the comparison with theoretical models. The projected distance of each star cluster from the galaxy center ranges from 10.7 arcmin (~ 1.5 kpc) to 77 arcmin (~ 11 kpc), far beyond the optical body of the galaxy. Interestingly, the new star clusters are aligned along the elongated old stellar halo of NGC 6822, which is almost perpendicular to the HI gas distribution where young stellar populations exist. We also find that the colors and half-light radii of the new clusters are correlated with the galactocentric distance: clusters farther from the galaxy center are larger and bluer than those closer to the galaxy center. We discuss the stellar structure and evolution of NGC 6822 implied by these new extended star clusters in the halo. We also discuss the current status of observational and theoretical understandings regarding the origin of extended star clusters in NGC 6822 and other galaxies.

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HII Region Luminosity Function of the Interacting Galaxy M51

We present a study of HII regions in M51 using the Hubble Space Telescope ACS images taken as part of the Hubble Heritage Program. We have catalogued about 19,600 HII regions in M51 with Ha luminosity in the range of L = 10^{35.5} erg/s to 10^{39.0} erg/s. The Ha luminosity function of HII regions (HII LF) in M51 is well represented by a double power law with its index alpha=-2.25\pm0.02 for the bright part and alpha=-1.42\pm0.01 for the faint part, separated at a break point L= 10^{37.1} erg/s. This break was not found in previous studies of M51 HII regions. Comparison with simulated HII LFs suggests that this break is caused by the transition of HII region ionizing sources, from low mass clusters (with ~ 10^3 M_sun, including several OB stars) to more massive clusters (including several tens of OB stars). The HII LFs with L < 10^{37.1} erg/s are found to have different slopes for different parts in M51: the HII LF for the interarm region is steeper than those for the arm and the nuclear regions. This observed difference in HII LFs can be explained by evolutionary effects that HII regions in the interarm region are relatively older than those in the other parts of M51.

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Optical spectral classification of southern ultraluminous infrared galaxies

We present a study of the optical spectral properties of 115 ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) in the southern sky. Using the optical spectra obtained at CTIO 4 m and provided by the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey and the 6dF Galaxy Survey, we measure emission line widths and fluxes for spectral classification. We determine the spectral types of ULIRGs with H_alpha measurement using the standard diagnostic diagrams. For ULIRGs without H_alpha measurement, we determine their spectral types using the plane of flux ratio between [OIII]_lambda5007 and H_beta versus [OIII] line width based on our new empirical criterion. This criterion is efficient to distinguish active galactic nuclei (AGNs) from non-AGN galaxies with completeness and reliability of about 90 per cent. The sample of 115 ULIRGs is found to consist of 8 broad-line AGNs, 49 narrow-line AGNs, and 58 non-AGNs. The AGN fraction is on average 50 per cent and increases with infrared luminosity and IRAS 25-60 micron colour, consistent with previous studies. The IRAS 25-60 micron colour distributions are significantly different between AGN and non-AGN ULIRGs, while their IRAS 60-100 micron colour distributions are similar.

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Merging Galaxy Cluster Abell 2255 in Mid-Infrared

We present the mid-infrared (MIR) observation of a nearby galaxy cluster, Abell 2255 by the AKARI space telescope. Using the AKARI's continuous wavelength coverage between 3-24 micron and the wide field of view, we investigate the properties of cluster member galaxies to see how the infall of the galaxies, the cluster substructures, and the cluster-cluster merger influence their evolution. We show that the excess of MIR (11 micron) flux is a good indicator to discriminate galaxies at different evolutionary stages, and divide galaxies into three classes accordingly : strong MIR-excess (N3-S11>0.2) galaxies that include both unobscured and obscured star-forming galaxies, weak MIR-excess (-2.0 5 Gyr) galaxies where the MIR emission arises mainly from the circumstellar dust around AGB stars, and intermediate MIR-excess (-1.2<N3-S11<0.2) galaxies in between the two classes that are less than a few Gyrs old past the prime star formation activity. With the MIR-excess diagnostics, we investigate how local and cluster-scale environments affect the individual galaxies. We derive the total star formation rate of ~130 Msun/yr for A2255 using the strong MIR-excess galaxies, which is consistent with other clusters of galaxies at similar redshifts and with similar masses. We find no strong evidence that supports enhanced star formation neither inside the cluster nor in the substructure region. The intermediate MIR-excess galaxies, representing galaxies in transition from star-forming galaxies to quiescent galaxies, are located preferentially at the medium density region or cluster substructures. Our findings suggest that galaxies are being transformed from star-forming galaxies into red, quiescent galaxies from the infall region through near the core, which can be well-explained by the ram-pressure stripping as previous simulation suggests.

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Wandering globular clusters: the first dwarf galaxies in the universe?

In the last decade we witness an advent of new types of dwarf stellar systems in cluding ultra-compact dwarfs, ultra-faint dwarf spheroidals, and exotic globular clusters, breaking the old simple paradigm for dwarf galaxies and globular clusters. These objects become more intriguing, and understanding of these new findings be comes more challenging. Recently we discovered a new type of large scale structure in the Virgo cluster of galaxies: it is composed of globular clusters. Globular clusters in Virgo are found wandering between galaxies (intracluster globular clusters) as well as in galaxies. These intracluster globular clusters fill a significant fraction in the area of the Virgo cluster and they are dominated by blue globular clusters. These intracluster globular clusters may be closely related with the first dwarf galaxies in the universe.

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A Wide Field Survey of Satellite Galaxies around the Spiral Galaxy M106

We present a wide field survey of satellite galaxies in M106 (NGC 4258) covering a $1.7\degr \times 2\degr$ field around M106 using Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/MegaCam. We find 16 satellite galaxy candidates of M106. Eight of these galaxies are found to be dwarf galaxies that are much smaller and fainter than the remaining galaxies. Four of these galaxies are new findings. Surface brightness profiles of 15 out of 16 satellite galaxies can be represented well by an exponential disk profile with varying scale length. We derive the surface number density distribution of these satellite galaxies. The central number density profile (d $<100$ kpc) is well fitted by a power-law with a power index of $-2.1\pm0.5$, similar to the expected power index of isothermal distribution. The luminosity function of these satellites is represented well by the Schechter function with a faint end slope of $-1.19^{+0.03}_{-0.06}$. Integrated photometric properties (total luminosity, total colour, and disk scale length) and the spatial distribution of these satellite galaxies are found to be roughly similar to those of the Milky Way and M31.

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Optical Images and Source Catalog of AKARI North Ecliptic Pole Wide Survey Field

We present the source catalog and the properties of the $B-, R-$, and $I-$band images obtained to support the {\it AKARI} North Ecliptic Pole Wide (NEP-Wide) survey. The NEP-Wide is an {\it AKARI} infrared imaging survey of the north ecliptic pole covering a 5.8 deg$^2$ area over 2.5 -- 6 $\micron$ wavelengths. The optical imaging data were obtained at the Maidanak Observatory in Uzbekistan using the Seoul National University 4k $\times$ 4k Camera on the 1.5m telescope. These images cover 4.9 deg$^2$ where no deep optical imaging data are available. Our $B-, R-$, and $I-$band data reach the depths of $\sim$23.4, $\sim$23.1, and $\sim$22.3 mag (AB) at 5$σ$, respectively. The source catalog contains 96,460 objects in the $R-$band, and the astrometric accuracy is about 0.15$\arcsec$ at 1$σ$ in each RA and Dec direction. These photometric data will be useful for many studies including identification of optical counterparts of the infrared sources detected by {\it AKARI}, analysis of their spectral energy distributions from optical through infrared, and the selection of interesting objects to understand the obscured galaxy evolution.

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AKARI Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of SDSS-Selected Blue Early-Type Galaxies

A near-infrared (NIR; 2.5 - 4.5 micron) spectroscopic survey of SDSS(Sloan Digital Sky Survey)-selected blue early-type galaxies (BEGs) has been conducted using the AKARI. The NIR spectra of 36 BEGs are secured, which are well balanced in their star-formation(SF)/Seyfert/LINER type composition. For high signal-to-noise ratio, we stack the BEG spectra all and in bins of several properties: color, specific star formation rate and optically-determined spectral type. We estimate the NIR continuum slope and the equivalent width of 3.29 micron PAH emission. In the comparison between the estimated NIR spectral features of the BEGs and those of model galaxies, the BEGs seem to be old-SSP(Simple Stellar Population)-dominated metal-rich galaxies with moderate dust attenuation. The dust attenuation in the BEGs may originate from recent star formation or AGN activity and the BEGs have a clear feature of PAH emission, the evidence of current SF. BEGs show NIR features different from those of ULIRGs, from which we do not find any clear relationship between BEGs and ULIRGs. We find that Seyfert BEGs have more active SF than LINER BEGs, in spite of the fact that Seyferts show stronger AGN activity than LINERs. One possible scenario satisfying both our results and the AGN feedback is that SF, Seyfert and LINER BEGs form an evolutionary sequence: SF - Seyfert - LINER.

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Environmental Dependence of Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies

We study the environmental dependence of local luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs) and ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs) found in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data. The LIRG and ULIRG samples are constructed by cross-correlating spectroscopic catalogs of galaxies of the SDSS Data Release 7 and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite Faint Source Catalog. We examine the effects of the large-scale background density (Sigma_5), galaxy clusters, and the nearest neighbor galaxy on the properties of infrared galaxies (IRGs). We find that the fraction of LIRGs plus ULIRGs among IRGs (f_(U)LIRGs) and the infrared luminosity (L_IR) of IRGs strongly depend on the morphology of and the distance to the nearest neighbor galaxy: the probability for an IRG to be a (U)LIRG (f_(U)LIRGs) and its L_IR both increase as it approaches a late-type galaxy, but decrease as it approaches an early-type galaxy (within half the virial radius of its neighbor). We find no dependence of f_(U)LIRGs on the background density (surface galaxy number density) at fixed stellar mass of galaxies. The dependence of f_(U)LIRGs on the distance to galaxy clusters is also found to be very weak, but in highest-density regions such as the center of galaxy clusters, few (U)LIRGs are found. These environmental dependence of LIRGs and ULIRGs and the evolution of star formation rate (SFR)-environment relation from high redshifts to low redshifts seem to support the idea that galaxy-galaxy interactions/merging play a critical role in triggering the star formation activity of LIRGs and ULIRGs.

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