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Soojong Pak

Publications and source records attributed to Soojong Pak.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Excitation of Molecular Hydrogen in the Orion Bar Photodissociation Region From a Deep Near-Infrared IGRINS Spectrum

We present a deep near-infrared spectrum of the Orion Bar Photodissociation Region (PDR) taken with the Immersion Grating INfrared Spectrometer (IGRINS) on the 2.7 m telescope at the McDonald Observatory. IGRINS has high spectral resolution (R~45000) and instantaneous broad wavelength coverage (1.45-2.45 microns), enabling us to detect 87 emission lines from rovibrationally excited molecular hydrogen (H_2) that arise from transitions out of 69 upper rovibration levels of the electronic ground state. These levels cover a large range of rotational and vibrational quantum numbers and excitation energies, making them an excellent probe of the excitation mechanisms of H_2 and physical conditions within the PDR. The Orion Bar PDR is thought to consist of cooler high density clumps or filaments (T=50-250 K, n_H = 10^5 - 10^7 cm^-3) embedded in a warmer lower density medium (T=250-1000 K, n_H=10^4 - 10^5 cm^-3). We fit a grid of simple constant-temperature and constant-density Cloudy models, which recreate the observed H_2 level populations well, to constrain the temperature to a range of 600 to 650 K and the density to n_H = 2.5 x 10^3 to 10^4 cm^-3. The best fit model gives T = 625 K and n_H = 5x10^3 cm^-3. This well constrained warm temperature is consistent with kinetic temperatures found by other studies for the Orion Bar's lower density medium. However, the range of densities well fit by the model grid is marginally lower than those reported by other studies. We could be observing lower density gas than the surrounding medium, or perhaps a density-sensitive parameter in our models is not properly estimated.

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Fluorescent H_2 Emission Lines from the Reflection Nebula NGC 7023 Observed with IGRINS

We have analyzed the temperature, velocity and density of H2 gas in NGC 7023 with a high-resolution near-infrared spectrum of the northwestern filament of the reflection nebula. By observing NGC 7023 in the H and K bands at R ~ 45,000 with the Immersion GRating INfrared Spectrograph (IGRINS), we detected 68 H2 emission lines within the 1" x 15" slit. The diagnostic ratios of 2-1 S(1)/1-0 S(1) is 0.41-0.56. In addition, the estimated ortho-to-para ratios (OPR) is 1.63-1.82, indicating that the H2 emission transitions in the observed region arises mostly from gas excited by UV fluorescence. Gradients in the temperature, velocity, and OPR within the observed area imply motion of the photodissociation region (PDR) relative to the molecular cloud. In addition, we derive the column density of H2 from the observed emission lines and compare these results with PDR models in the literature covering a range of densities and incident UV field intensities. The notable difference between PDR model predictions and the observed data, in high rotational J levels of v = 1, is that the predicted formation temperature for newly-formed H2 should be lower than that of the model predictions. To investigate the density distribution, we combine pixels in 1" x 1" areas and derive the density distribution at the 0.002 pc scale. The derived gradient of density suggests that NGC 7023 has a clumpy structure, including a high clump density of ~10^5 cm^-3 with a size smaller than ~5 x 10^-3 pc embedded in lower density regions of 10^3-10^4 cm^-3.

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Near-Infrared Polarimetric Study of N159/N160 Star-Forming Complex in the Large Magellanic Cloud

We present near-infrared polarimetric results for N159/N160 star-forming complex, in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with SIRPOL, the polarimeter of the Infrared Survey Facility (IRSF). We separated foreground sources using their visual extinction derived from near-infrared photometric data. The 45 young stellar candidates and 2 high excitation blobs were matched with our sources, and 12 of them showed the high polarization that was not originated from the interstellar dust. We made a polarimetric catalog of 252, 277, and 89 sources at $J$, $H$, and $K_s$ bands, respectively. Based on the ratios of polarization degree among these bands, we verify that the origin of these polarized sources is the dichroic extinction from the aligned interstellar dust by magnetic field and that the ratios follow a power-law dependence of $P_λ$ $\sim$ $λ^{-0.9}$. The linear polarization vectors projected on the H$α$ image of the complex turned out to follow local magnetic field structure. The vector map overlaid on dust and gas emissions shows the close correlation between magnetic field structure and surrounding interstellar medium. We suggest that the derived magnetic field structure supports the sequential formation scenario of the complex.

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Three-dimensional Shock Structure of Orion KL Outflow with IGRINS

We report a study of the three-dimensional (3D) outflow structure of a 15$\arcsec$ $\times$ 13$\arcsec$ area around H$_{2}$ peak 1 in Orion KL with slit-scan observations (13 slits) using the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrograph. The datacubes, with high velocity-resolution ($\sim$ 7.5 {\kms}) provide high contrast imaging within ultra-narrow bands, and enable the detection of the main stream of the previously reported H$_{2}$ outflow fingers. We identified 31 distinct fingers in H$_{2}$ 1$-$0 S(1) $λ$2.122 $\micron$ emission. The line profile at each finger shows multiple-velocity peaks with a strong low-velocity component around the systemic velocity at ${\VLSR}$ = $+$8 {\kms} and high velocity emission ($|$${\VLSR}$$|$ = 45$-$135 {\kms}) indicating a typical bow-shock. The observed radial velocity gradients of $\sim$ 4 {\kms} arcsec$^{-1}$ agree well with the velocities inferred from large-scale proper motions, where the projected motion is proportional to distance from a common origin. We construct a conceptual 3D map of the fingers with the estimated inclination angles of 57$\degree$$-$74$\degree$. The extinction difference ($Δ$$A_{\rm v}$ $>$ 10 mag) between blueshifted and redshifted fingers indicates high internal extinction. The extinction, the overall angular spread and scale of the flow argue for an ambient medium with very high density (10$^{5}$$-$10$^{6}$ cm$^{-3}$), consistent with molecular line observations of the OMC core. The radial velocity gradients and the 3D distributions of the fingers together support the hypothesis of simultaneous, radial explosion of the Orion KL outflow.

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Development of SED Camera for Quasars in Early Universe (SQUEAN)

We describe the characteristics and performance of a camera system, Spectral energy distribution Camera for Quasars in Early Universe (SQUEAN). It was developed to measure SEDs of high redshift quasar candidates (z $\gtrsim$ 5) and other targets, e.g., young stellar objects, supernovae, and gamma-ray bursts, and to trace the time variability of SEDs of objects such as active galactic nuclei (AGNs). SQUEAN consists of an on-axis focal plane camera module, an auto-guiding system, and mechanical supporting structures. The science camera module is composed of a focal reducer, a customizable filter wheel, and a CCD camera on the focal plane. The filter wheel uses filter cartridges that can house filters with different shapes and sizes, enabling the filter wheel to hold twenty filters of 50 mm $\times$ 50 mm size, ten filters of 86 mm $\times$ 86 mm size, or many other combinations. The initial filter mask was applied to calibrate the filter wheel with high accuracy and we verified that the filter position is repeatable at much less than one pixel accuracy. We installed and tested 50 nm medium bandwidth filters of 600 -- 1,050 nm and other filters at the commissioning observation in 2015 February. We found that SQUEAN can reach limiting magnitudes of 23.3 - 25.3 AB mag at 5-$σ$ in a 1-hour total integration time. - 25.3 AB mag at 5-$σ$ in a 1-hour total integration time.

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The Infrared Medium-Deep Survey. V. A New Selection Strategy for Quasars at z > 5 based on Medium-Band Observation with SQUEAN

Multiple color selection techniques have been successful in identifying quasars from wide-field broad-band imaging survey data. Among the quasars that have been discovered so far, however, there is a redshift gap at $5 \lesssim {\rm z} \lesssim 5.7$ due to the limitations of filter sets in previous studies. In this work, we present a new selection technique of high redshift quasars using a sequence of medium-band filters: nine filters with central wavelengths from 625 to 1025 nm and bandwidths of 50 nm. Photometry with these medium-bands traces the spectral energy distribution (SED) of a source, similar to spectroscopy with resolution R $\sim$ 15. By conducting medium-band observations of high redshift quasars at 4.7 $\leq$ z $\leq$ 6.0 and brown dwarfs (the main contaminants in high redshift quasar selection) using the SED camera for QUasars in EArly uNiverse (SQUEAN) on the 2.1-m telescope at the McDonald Observatory, we show that these medium-band filters are superior to multi-color broad-band color section in separating high redshift quasars from brown dwarfs. In addition, we show that redshifts of high redshift quasars can be determined to an accuracy of $Δ{\rm z}/(1+{\rm z}) = 0.002$ -- $0.026$. The selection technique can be extended to z $\sim$ 7, suggesting that the medium-band observation can be powerful in identifying quasars even at the re-ionization epoch.

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The Chemical Compositions of Very Metal-Poor Stars HD 122563 and HD 140283; A View From the Infrared

From high resolution (R = 45,000), high signal-to-noise (S/N > 400) spectra gathered with the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrograph (IGRINS) in the H and K photometric bands, we have derived elemental abundances of two bright, well-known metal-poor halo stars: the red giant HD 122563 and the subgiant HD 140283. Since these stars have metallicities approaching [Fe/H] = -3, their absorption features are generally very weak. Neutral-species lines of Mg, Si, S and Ca are detectable, as well as those of the light odd-Z elements Na and Al. The derived IR-based abundances agree with those obtained from optical-wavelength spectra. For Mg and Si the abundances from the infrared transitions are improvements to those derived from shorter wavelength data. Many useful OH and CO lines can be detected in the IGRINS HD 122563 spectrum, from which derived O and C abundances are consistent to those obtained from the traditional [O I] and CH features. IGRINS high resolutions H- and K-band spectroscopy offers promising ways to determine more reliable abundances for additional metal-poor stars whose optical features are either not detectable, or too weak, or are based on lines with analytical difficulties.

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IGRINS Near-IR High-Resolution Spectroscopy of Multiple Jets around LkH$α$ 234

We present the results of high-resolution near-IR spectroscopy toward the multiple outflows around the Herbig Be star Lk{\Ha} 234 using the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrograph (IGRINS). Previous studies indicate that the region around Lk{\Ha} 234 is complex, with several embedded YSOs and the outflows associated with them. In simultaneous H$-$ and K$-$band spectra from HH 167, we detected 5 {\FeII} and 14 H$_{2}$ emission lines. We revealed a new {\FeII} jet driven by radio continuum source VLA 3B. Position-velocity diagrams of H$_{2}$ 1$-$0 S(1) $λ$2.122 $\micron$ line show multiple velocity peaks. The kinematics may be explained by a geometrical bow shock model. We detected a component of H$_{2}$ emission at the systemic velocity (V$_{LSR}$ $=$ $-$10.2 {\kms}) along the whole slit in all slit positions, which may arise from the ambient photodissociation region. Low-velocity gas dominates the molecular hydrogen emission from knots A and B in HH 167, which is close to the systemic velocity, {\FeII} emission lines are detected at farther from the systemic velocity, at V$_{LSR}$ $=$ $-$100 $-$ $-$130 {\kms}. We infer that the H$_{2}$ emission arises from shocked gas entrained by a high-velocity outflow. Population diagrams of H$_{2}$ lines imply that the gas is thermalized at a temperature of 2,500 $-$ 3,000 K and the emission results from shock excitation.

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Near-Infrared Polarization Source Catalog of the Northeastern Regions of the Large Magellanic Cloud

We present a near-infrared band-merged photometric and polarimetric catalog for the 39$\arcmin$ $\times$ 69$\arcmin$ fields on the northeastern part of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which were observed using SIRPOL, an imaging polarimeter of the InfraRed Survey Facility (IRSF). This catalog lists 1,858 sources brighter than 14 mag at $H$ band with polarization signal-to-noise ratio greater than three in the $J$, $H$, or $K_s$ bands. Based on the relationship between the extinction and the polarization degree, we argue that the polarization mostly arises from dichroic extinctions caused by local interstellar dust in the LMC. This catalog allows us to map polarization structures to examine the global geometry of the local magnetic field, and to show a statistical analysis of polarization of each field to understand its polarization properties. At the selected fields with coherent polarization position angles, we estimate magnetic field strengths in the range of 3$-$25 $μ$G using the Chandrasekhar-Fermi method. This implies the presence of large-scale magnetic fields on a scale of around one hundred parsecs. When comparing mid and far-infrared dust emission maps, we confirmed that the polarization patterns are well aligned with molecular clouds around the star-forming regions.

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Discovery of A Faint Quasar at z~6 and Implications for Cosmic Reionization

Recent studies suggest that faint active galactic nuclei may be responsible for the reionization of the universe. Confirmation of this scenario requires spectroscopic identification of faint quasars ($M_{1450}>-24$ mag) at $z \gtrsim6$, but only a very small number of such quasars have been spectroscopically identified so far. Here, we report the discovery of a faint quasar IMS J220417.92+011144.8 at z~6 in a 12.5 deg$^{2}$ region of the SA22 field of the Infrared Medium-deep Survey (IMS). The spectrum of the quasar shows a sharp break at $\sim8443~\rmÅ$, with emission lines redshifted to $z=5.944 \pm 0.002$ and rest-frame ultraviolet continuum magnitude $M_{1450}=-23.59\pm0.10$ AB mag. The discovery of IMS J220417.92+011144.8 is consistent with the expected number of quasars at z~6 estimated from quasar luminosity functions based on previous observations of spectroscopically identified low-luminosity quasars . This suggests that the number of $M_{1450}\sim-23$ mag quasars at z~6 may not be high enough to fully account for the reionization of the universe. In addition, our study demonstrates that faint quasars in the early universe can be identified effectively with a moderately wide and deep near-infrared survey such as the IMS.

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Photometry Transformation from RGB Bayer Filter System to Johnson-Cousins BVR Filter System

The RGB Bayer filter system consists of a mosaic of R, G, and B filters on the grid of the photo sensors which typical commercial DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) cameras and CCD cameras are equipped with. Lot of unique astronomical data obtained using an RGB Bayer filter system are available, including transient objects, e.g. supernovae, variable stars, and solar system bodies. The utilization of such data in scientific research requires that reliable photometric transformation methods are available between the systems. In this work, we develop a series of equations to convert the observed magnitudes in the RGB Bayer filter system ($R_B$, $G_B$, and $B_B$) into the Johnson-Cousins BVR filter system ($B_J$, $V_J$, and $R_C$). The new transformation equations derive the calculated magnitudes in the Johnson-Cousins filters ($B_{Jcal}$, $V_{Jcal}$, and $R_{Ccal}$) as functions of RGB magnitudes and colors. The mean differences between the transformed magnitudes and original magnitudes, i.e. the residuals, are $Δ(B_J-B_{Jcal})$ = 0.064 mag, $Δ(V_J-V_{Jcal})$ = 0.041 mag, and $Δ(R_C-R_{Ccal})$ = 0.039 mag. The calculated Johnson-Cousins magnitudes from the transformation equations show a good linear correlation with the observed Johnson-Cousins magnitudes.

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Host Galaxy Properties and Black Hole Mass of Swift J164449.3+573451 from Multi-Wavelength Long-Term Monitoring and HST Data

We study the host galaxy properties of the tidal disruption object, Swift J164449.3+573451 using long-term optical to near-infrared (NIR) data. First, we decompose the galaxy surface brightness distribution and analyze the morphology of the host galaxy using high resolution \emph{HST} WFC3 images. We conclude that the host galaxy is a bulge-dominant galaxy that is well described by a single Sérsic model with Sérsic index $n=3.43\pm0.05$. Adding a disk component, the bulge to total host galaxy flux ratio (B/T) is $0.83\pm0.03$, which still indicates a bulge-dominant galaxy. Second, we estimate multi-band fluxes of the host galaxy through long-term light curves. Our long-term NIR light curves reveal the pure host galaxy fluxes $\sim500$ days after the burst. We fit spectral energy distribution (SED) models to the multi-band fluxes from the optical to NIR of the host galaxy and determine its properties. The stellar mass, the star formation rate, and the age of stellar population are $\log(M_{\star}/M_{\odot}) = 9.14^{+0.13}_{-0.10}$, $0.03^{+0.28}_{-0.03}\, M_{\odot}$/yr, and $0.63^{+0.95}_{-0.43}$ Gyr. Finally, we estimate the mass of the central super massive black hole which is responsible for the tidal disruption event. The black hole mass is estimated to be $10^{6.7\pm0.4}\, M_{\odot}$ from $M_{\mathrm{BH}}$ - $M_{\star,\mathrm{bul}}$ and $M_{\mathrm{BH}}$ - $L_{\mathrm{bul}}$ relations for the $K$ band, although a smaller value of $\sim10^5\, M_{\odot}$ cannot be excluded convincingly if the host galaxy harbors a pseudobulge.

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Exposure Time Calculator for Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrograph: IGRINS

We present an exposure-time calculator (ETC) for the Immersion Grating Infrared Spectrograph (IGRINS). The signal and noise values are calculated by taking into account the telluric background emission and absorption, the emission and transmission of the telescope and instrument optics, and the dark current and read noise of the infrared detector arrays. For the atmospheric transmission, we apply models based on the amount of precipitable water vapor along the line of sight to the target. The ETC produces the expected signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) for each resolution element, given the exposure-time and number of exposures. In this paper, we compare the simulated continuum S/N for the early-type star HD 124683 and the late-type star GSS 32, and the simulated emission line S/N for the H2 rovibrational transitions from the Iris Nebula NGC 7023 with the observed IGRINS spectra. The simulated S/N from the ETC is overestimated by 40-50% for the sample continuum targets.

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Color Variability of HBC 722 in the Post-Outburst Phases

We carried out photometric observations for HBC 722 in SDSS r, i and z bands from 2011 April to 2013 May with a Camera for Quasars in Early uNiverse attached to the 2.1m Otto Struve telescope at McDonald Observatory. The post-outburst phenomena were classified into five phases according to not only brightness but also color variations, which might be caused by physical changes in the emitting regions of optical and near-infrared bands. A series of spectral energy distribution (SED) is presented to support color variations and track the time evolution of SED in optical/near-infrared bands after the outburst. Given two years of data, possible periodicities of r, i and z bands were checked. We found out three families of signals around ~6, ~10 and ~1 days in three bands, which is broadly consistent with Green et al. (2013). We also examined short term variability (intra-day and day scales) to search for evidences of flickering by using the micro-variability method. We found clear signs of day scale variability and weak indications of intra-day scale fluctuations, which implies that the flickering event occurs in HBC 722 after outburst.

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The Infrared Medium-Deep Survey II: How to Trigger Radio-AGN? Hints from Their Environments

Activity at the centers of galaxies, during which the central supermassive black hole is accreting material, is nowadays accepted to be rather ubiquitous and most probably a phase of every galaxy's evolution. It has been suggested that galactic mergers and interactions may be the culprits behind the triggering of nuclear activity. We use near-infrared data from the new Infrared Medium-Deep Survey (IMS) and the Deep eXtragalactic Survey (DXS) of the VIMOS-SA22 field and radio data at 1.4 GHz from the FIRST survey and a deep VLA survey to study the environments of radio-AGN over an area of ~25 sq. degrees and down to a radio flux limit of 0.1 mJy and a J-band magnitude of 23 mag AB. Radio-AGN are predominantly found in environments similar to those of control galaxies at similar redshift, J-band magnitude, and U-R rest-frame absolute color. However, a sub-population of radio-AGN is found in environments up to 100 times denser than their control sources. We thus preclude merging as the dominant triggering mechanism of radio-AGN. Through the fitting of the broadband spectral energy distribution of radio-AGN in the least and most dense environments, we find that those in the least dense environments show higher radio-loudness, higher star formation efficiencies, and higher accretion rates, typical of the so-called high-excitation radio-AGN. These differences tend to disappear at z>1. We interpret our results in terms of a different triggering mechanism for these sources that is driven by mass-loss through winds of young stars created during the observed ongoing star formation.

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Medium Resolution Near-Infrared Spectra of the Host Galaxies of Nearby Quasars

We present medium resolution near-infrared host galaxy spectra of low redshift quasars, PG 0844 + 349 (z=0.064), PG 1226 + 023 (z=0.158), and PG 1426+015 (z=0.086). The observations were done by using the Infrared Camera and Spectrograph (IRCS) at the Subaru 8.2 m telescope. The full width at half maximum of the point spread function was about 0.3 arcsec by operations of an adaptive optics system, which can effectively resolve the quasar spectra from the host galaxy spectra. We spent up to several hours per target and developed data reduction methods to reduce the systematic noises of the telluric emissions and absorptions. From the obtained spectra, we identified absorption features of Mg I (1.503 um), Si I (1.589 um) and CO (6-3) (1.619 um), and measured the velocity dispersions of PG 0844 + 349 to be 132+/-110 km s-1 and PG 1426 + 015 to be 264+/-215 km s-1. By using an M_BH-sigma relation of elliptical galaxies, we derived the black hole (BH) mass of PG 0844+349, log(M_BH/M_SUN) = 7.7+/-5.5 and PG 1426+015, log(M_BH/M_SUN) = 9.0+/-7.5. These values are consistent with the BH mass values from broad emission lines with an assumption of a virial factor of 5.5.

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Synchrotron Self-inverse Compton Radiation From Reverse-shock on GRB120326A

We present multi-wavelength observations of a typical long duration GRB 120326A at $z=1.798$, including rapid observations using a submillimeter array (SMA), and a comprehensive monitoring in X-ray and optical. The SMA observation provided the fastest detection to date among seven submillimeter afterglows at 230 GHz. The prompt spectral analysis, using Swift and Suzaku yielded a spectral peak energy of $E^{\rm src}_{\rm peak}=107.8^{+15.3}_{-15.3}$ keV and equivalent isotropic energy of $E_{\rm iso}$ as $3.18^{+0.40}_{-0.32}\times 10^{52}$ erg. The temporal evolution and spectral properties in the optical were consistent with the standard forward shock synchrotron with jet collimation ($6^{\circ}.69\pm0^{\circ}.16$). The forward shock modeling using a 2D relativistic hydrodynamic jet simulation also determined the reasonable burst explosion and the synchrotron radiation parameters for the optical afterglow. The X-ray light curve showed no apparent jet break and the temporal decay index relation between the X-ray and optical ($α{\rm o}-α_{X}=-1.45\pm0.10$) indicated different radiation processes in the X-ray and optical. Introducing synchrotron self-inverse Compton radiation from reverse shock is a possible solution, and the detection and the slow decay of the afterglow in submillimeter supports that this is a plausible idea. The observed temporal evolution and spectral properties as well as forward shock modeling parameters, enabled to determine reasonable functions to describe the afterglow properties. Because half of events share similar properties in the X-ray and optical to the current event, GRB120326A will be a benchmarks with further rapid follow-ups, using submillimeter instruments such as SMA and ALMA.

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Variability at the Edge: Optical Near/IR Rapid Cadence Monitoring of Newly Outbursting FU Orionis Object HBC 722

We present the detection of day-timescale periodic variability in the r-band lightcurve of newly outbursting FU Orionis-type object HBC 722, taken from > 42 nights of observation with the CQUEAN instrument on the McDonald Observatory 2.1m telescope. The optical/near-IR lightcurve of HBC 722 shows a complex array of periodic variability, clustering around 5.8 day (0.044 mag amplitude) and 1.28 day (0.016 mag amplitude) periods, after removal of overall baseline variation. We attribute the unusual number of comparable strength signals to a phenomenon related to the temporary increase in accretion rate associated with FUors. We consider semi-random "flickering", magnetic braking/field compression and rotational asymmetries in the disk instability region as potential sources of variability. Assuming the 5.8 day period is due to stellar rotation and the 1.28 day period is indicative of Keplerian rotation at the inner radius of the accretion disk (at 2 R(star)), we derive a B-field strength of 2.2-2.7 kG, slightly larger than typical T Tauri stars. If instead the 5.8 day signal is from a disk asymmetry, the instability region has an outer radius of 5.4 R(star), consistent with models of FUor disks. Further exploration of the time domain in this complicated source and related objects will be key to understanding accretion processes.

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