This lecture begins with the fundamental reasons for a nation to undertake planetary exploration. Expected benefits to Korea is discussed. Then the current status of Korea\\\\\\\\/s readiness for planetary exploration is described. The case for Korean lunar mission and Mars mission are made. The recently-signed agreement between KAIST and NASA on lunar exploration is elaborated on. Finally, what was done to Korean Mars mission concept, and what could be actually done in the future, are discussed.

Magnetospheric substorms are considered to be one of the major energy release processes as a consequence of the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetosphere. The interaction is known to sensitively depend on the direction and magnitude of the north-south component of the interplanetary magnetic field that the solar wind brings together. Substorms are manifested by sudden auroral brightening due to particle precipitation along magnetic field, energetic charged particle generation, ULF magnetic pulsation excitation, abrupt changes of the magnetospheric magnetic field, and magnetic reconnection. One of the intriguing features of substorms is that they sometimes occur quasi-periodically with a period of ~1-3 hrs. This is commonly observed when corotating high-speed solar streams lasting several days impinge upon the magnetosphere. The high-speed streams accompany large amplitude Alfvenic fluctuations of the interplanetary magnetic field, leading to alternating polarities between north and south, which may be responsible for the repetitive substorms. Interestingly, we have recently found that quasi-periodic substorms do also occur even when the interplanetary magnetic field is purely northward for which the magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause is hardly expected to occur. Also, substorm features are seen for sawtooth-type quasi-periodic oscillations of energetic particle injections under prolonged southward conditions of the accompanied interplanetary magnetic field. The fact that such diverse interplanetary conditions lead to quasi-periodic substorms poses a real mystery to substorm scientists. This talk will introduce our recent effort to follow up a clue to the mystery.

We have measured the annual parallax of the Mira-type variable star UX Cygni to be (pi) = 0.54 +/- 0.06 mas from phase-referencing VLBI observations of its circumsteller water masers with the VLBA. This is the first parallax from water maser observations. These are also the pilot observations for VERA (VLBI Exploration for Radio Astrometry) project in Japan, which measure the parallaxes and proper motions of galactic maser sources to reveal the three-dimensional structure of the Galaxy. Four epoch monitoring observations of water masers around the Mira-type star UX Cygni are carried out. The motions of maser spots referred to the position of phase-referencing source show the common annual parallax and proper motions of each spots. From the least-square fitting, the annual parallax is 0.54 +/- 0.06 mas. The corresponding distance is 1.85 (+0.25/-0.19) kpc. This result is consistent with the period-luminosity relation (PLR) of Mira-type variables in P > 420 days. From this result and the PLR of Large Magellanic Cloud, we can derive the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud to be 55.0 (+9.0/-7.2) kpc, which is consistent to the values from other methods. We can also get the three-dimensional position and velocity in the Galaxy. These results show the possibility of astrometric observations with phase-referencing VLBI and research into galactic kinematics which is one of the big target of the VERA.

see attached file, please

Magnetic energy release via field line reconnections is believed to be a major fundamental process in space and astrophysical environments, ranging from accretion disks, flare stars, the sun to the heliosphere and the earth magnetosphere. It is, however, only through solar flare images that we can see direct signatures for the magnetic reconnection. This talk will review recent progresses toward quantitative measurements of the reconnection efficiency using solar images as carried out by NJIT solar group. In most cases, we could utilize the standard two-dimensional reconnection model to derive the reconnection electric field, electric potential and electromagnetic Poynting flux, and thus ultimately the energy release rate during solar flares. In a few exceptional cases, however, we found shortcomings of the two-dimensional model due to the complexity of magnetic topologies, for which we suggest a simple three-dimensional generalization.

We describe a multidimensional relativistic hydrodynamic code which solves the special relativistic hydrodynamic equations as a hyperbolic system of conservation laws based on the total variation diminishing scheme. Three-dimensional hydrodynamic interactions of relativistic extragalactic jets with two-phase ambient media are presented.

Within the last decade, our notions of the cosmos have been radically altered by precision observations of the light from distant Type Ia supernovae and, separately, the power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background radiation [CMBR]. These show that the expansion of the universe is actually accelerating, and that the Universe is overwhelmingly composed of dark energy (75%) and dark matter (21%), with only 4% of the total being baryonic (“normal”) matter. Determining the amount and characteristics of dark matter, dark energy, and normal matter is one of the most compelling problems in astrophysics today. A complementary and independent approach to determine the baryonic matter density is to compare the predictions of the abundances of “primordial” light elements (H, He, Li) formed three minutes after the Big Bang with observations of these elements in the interstellar medium and on the surface of very old stars. “Big Bang Nucleosynthesis” (BBN) calculations require, as input, thermonuclear reaction rates at the high temperatures characteristic of the early universe. BBN estimates of the 2H, 4He, and 7Li abundances imply a baryonic matter density that, respectively, agrees, marginally agrees, and disagrees with the density from other approaches. The precision of the BBN constraint on the baryonic matter density depends on the uncertainties in observational determinations of primordial 2H, 4He, and 7Li abundances, as well as on uncertainties in BBN abundance predictions derived from input nuclear physics uncertainties [1]. We have performed new Monte Carlo BBN simulations wherein all input reaction rate uncertainties are reduced to their smallest reasonable limit in order to determine the “ultimate” precision of the BBN baryonic matter constraint given current observational uncertainties: 21%, 41%, and 39%, using (respectively) 2H, 4He, and 7Li. The uncertainties in abundance determinations must be significantly reduced to give the BBN constraint a precision approaching that of the 3.5% precision derived from WMAP observations of the CMBR [2]. Comparisons of the constraints from these two complementary methods are important because they can indicate, and constrain, potential new physics. We have also performed simulations where individual rate uncertainties are systematically reduced to determine the impact that future nuclear physics measurements would have on the abundance uncertainties and the baryonic matter constraint. We find that the neutron lifetime and the rates of a number of reactions all deserve further scrutiny. Results of the simulations and their implications for cosmology and for future nuclear physics measurements will be presented. These calculations were all performed with the new online suite of codes freely available at bigbangonline.org. [1] M.S. Smith, L.H. Kawano, R.A. Malaney, Astrophys. J. Suppl. 85 (1993) 219. [2] D.N. Spergel et al., Astrophys. J. Suppl. 170 (2007) 377. * Managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S.D.O.E. under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725

First Pop III stars are believed to form inside minihalos (T<10^4 K) with the help of hydrogen molecule (H_2) cooling. H_2, however, is easily dissociated by H_2 Lyman-Werner band photons, which can originate from sources in cosmological distance. We calculate the build-up of this H_2 dissociating background during the epoch of reionization, based upon the recent cosmic reionization simulation results. We show that (1) H_2 dissociating background builds up long before the end of cosmic reionization and (2) due to the clustering of sources of reionization, the resultant background shows a significant spatial fluctuation. This would lead to a spatial variation of the formation of Pop III objects. The observational perspective (e.g. JWST observation) of our result is also presented.

운석은 태양계의 물질로서 지구나 화성등과 같이 완전한 행성진화과정을 겪지 않은 물질이다. 따라서, 운석중에 나타나는 화학성분들은 태양계 초기의 기록에 가까우며 이중 특히 분화를 거의 겪지 않은 원시운석들은 태양계의 나이, 원소분포 등에 대한 귀중한 정보를 갖고 있다. 또한, 운석은 다양한 종류의 운석과 월석, 화성운석에서 나타나는 여러 가지 다른 기원을 갖는 가스 성분들은 태양계 초기의 기록뿐 아니라 지구와 같은 행성의 진화과정에 대한 단서를 제공한다.

Prof. K.C. Freeman will shortly visit KASI in the morning of November 16th to talk about what can be done with the Wide-Field Multi-Object Spectrograph (WFMOS) possibly on Gemini/ Subaru/AAT. In addition, as ANU is currently a partner in GMT, he will also talk about what they are planning with the GMT project.

고대로부터 현재에 이르기까지 우리 문화생활과 가장 밀접한 관련성이 있는 것이 시간과 공간에 대한 생각이다. 이는 철학적인 연구의 대상일 뿐만 아니라 20세기 들어서 과학적적으로도 많은 논쟁의 대상으로 연구를 해온 대상이다. 조선시대에는 시간의 흐름과 공간상의 위치를 대단히 중요시 여겨서 모든 우리의 생활 속에서 중요한 요소로 자리를 잡았다. 이러한 시간과 공간에 대한 기본 관념이 조선시대 국가 기관인 관상감에서 매년 간행된 책력에 잘 나타나있다. 책력에는 천체 운행의 천문학적 계산을 바탕으로 하는 역산(曆算)과 전통 문화 속에 숨겨진 미신적 요소인 역주(曆注)라는 두 종류가 포함되어 있다. 본 내용에서는 책력 속에서 이 두 요소가 어떻게 시간과 공간 문제와 관련을 짓고 어떻게 표현 했는지 알아보기로 한다. 책력에서 제시하고 있는 천체의 운행은 시간과 공간을 서로 독립적인 관계로서 설명하지 않고, 서로 끊임없이 인간 생활과 관련을 짓고 있는 것으로 보고 있다. 그 중에서 태양, 달 및 오행성(五行星) 등 칠정(七政)의 운행은 시간과 계절을 결정하는 중요한 천체들이다. 본 내용에서는 주로 천체의 위치와 운동과 관련한 천문학적 계산을 중심으로 설명하고자 한다. 우선 시간과 공간과 관련된 시각과 계절의 결정 방법, 공간 속에서의 방위와 위치를 계산하는 원리, 계산의 실제 등에 대하여 알아보기로 한다.

Firstly, I will simply introduce the different accretion processes in both supermassive black holes and X-ray binaries. Then I would like to talk about my recent work on the accretion and jet physics in radio galaxy FR Is and its possible relation to large scale surroundings.

The Earth upper atmosphere is a strongly forced and coupled system. Because the major external energy sources are the solar radiation in the range of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and far ultraviolet (FUV), and the solar wind energy, a flow of charged particles (plasma) from the sun, the state of the upper atmosphere depends strongly on the solar activity. When the solar activity is high, magnetic storms occur as a results of increased magnetospheric energy inflow, mainly in the form of electric fields and auroral plasma particle precipitation. During magnetic storms, the energy is transferred from the magnetosphere to the polar atmosphere and distributed among kinetic, internal, and chemical energy of the thermosphere and ionosphere via a number of neutral-plasma interactions. During geomagnetically disturbed periods the ensuing high-latitude ionization, Joule heating, and ion-drag forcing of the upper atmosphere, along with penetration of the electric fields to low latitudes, affect the global dynamics and structure of the thermosphere and ionosphere, and can influence the performance and reliability of space-borne and ground-based technological systems and can endanger human life or health. Thus, as the nearest space environment to us, it is important to understand the Earth\\\\\\\\/s upper atmosphere. In this study, the physical processes responsible for maintaining the coupled thermosphere-ionosphere\\\\\\\\/s dynamical system with respect with the solar activity will be presented.

Callisto is a frequency-agile spectrometer that is easily transportable and hence can be used in many locations around the globe. Deployment at different longitudes will help observing the Sun 24 hours per day, thus capturing solar events that affect the heliosphere. The total frequency range is from 45 to 870 MHz, which is optimal for detecting the earliest stages of solar eruptions. The timing of CALLISTO can be controlled by a GPS or atomic clock. Thus the relative timing is accurate to within less than one millisecond. The digital output of the spectrometer is files in FITS format which easily can be examined by existing astronomical software. CALLISTO has been installed in Ooty, India. It has successfully captured a first light event of solar radio flare on 2006 November 14. A second one has been installed in Gauribidanur, India and has also captured useful data on 2nd of Januar 2007. CALLISTO has been delivered to Russia (Badary near Irkutsk) in December 2007 and it has already delivered wonderful data. CALLISTO has been shipped to Costa Rica. Hosts: Jorge Paez and Marco Barrantes (university of Costa Rica) CALLISTO has also been shipped to Mexico. Host: Alejandro Lara (UNAM).Now we hope to get another CALLISTO successfully installed in South Korea by the help of local people. This project utilizes the advanced web communication available today (e-CALLISTO). All the data can be pooled together from Zurich by software. By IHY kick-off in February 2007, we are able to present dynamic spectrum of the Sun using DiRaC-Software.

Astronomical objects emit many forms of energy, which neither the human eye nor ordinary telescopes can detect. Infrared is one form of this invisible energy. SOFIA is an airborne observatory that will study the universe in the infrared spectrum. Besides this contribution to science progress, SOFIA will be a major factor in the development of observational techniques, of new instrumentations and in the education of young scientists and teachers in the discipline of infrared astronomy. In the talk, I would like to give a brief introduction to the SOFIA project .

I present a kinematic analysis of the globular cluster (GC) system in the giant elliptical galaxy (gE) M60 in the Virgo cluster. Using the photometric and spectroscopic database of M60 GCs, we have investigated the kinematics of the GC system: the rotation, the velocity dispersion, and the velocity anisotropy. Similar analysis is carried out for other gEs (M49, M87, NGC 1399, NGC 5128, and NGC 4636) using the data in the literature. We compare the kinematic properties of these GC systems and discuss the implication of these results for the formation models of the GC system in gEs.

The CCAT is a 25 meter diameter submillimeter wave telescope, currently in the planning phase for construction and operation in the Atacama Desert, Chile. When it is operational, it will be the premier ground based facility for submillimeter wave astrophysics with an unmatched wide field survey capability and will host leading edge submillimeter imaging and spectroscopic focal plane arrays. The CCAT wide field survey will complement the high resolution capabilities of the nearby ALMA facility. I will describe the current plans, highlight the capabilities and present an opportunity for partnership in the consortium.

Understanding the environment of a supernova explosion and its consequent evolution is crucial in understanding the Galactic ecology. The diverse characteristics of supernova remnants (SNRs) reflect the nature of the progenitor star, of the explosion itself, and of the ambient medium. In this talk, I will present observational studies of two Galactic SNRs, Tycho and IC 443, focusing on their interaction with the ambient medium. From observations of Tycho, we discovered a thin (<10^17 cm) shock precursor, whose primary candidate is a cosmic ray (CR) precursor. The observed properties of the precursor suggest efficient CR acceleration in Tycho. IC 443 is the first and most studied SNR interacting with molecular clouds. Our results indicate that the remnant is interacting with small (~1arc min) isolated molecular clouds, which are likely to be remnants of the parental molecular clouds destroyed during the pre-SN evolution. From the line characteristics of shocked molecular clumps, we study an evolution of shocked molecular clumps.

지구환경변화를 주도하는 대표적 이슈는 (1). 지구온난화 기후변화와 (2). 오존층 파괴에 따른 생태계 영향과 (3). 국가간 대기오염 및 해양오염 등의 월경 문제이며 (4). 산업 발달과 도시화에 따른 자연환경 파괴의 광역화 이다. 이들 중 지구온난화는 국제적 감시와 저감을 위한 노력이 동반되지 않고는 달성될 수 없다. 동북아시아 기후구역의 온난화 감시에는 기상청의 안면도와 제주도 고산 지구대기감시관측소 등에서 온실기체 측정으로 적극 수행하고 있어 지구환경 연구에 대한 우리나라의 미래는 비교적 밝다. 동북아시아 지구환경 지역을 대표하는 한반도지역 대기(일명 배경대기)의 온실기체 이산화탄소의 연평균 농도는 2005년 제주도 고산 관측소 (환경부, 기상청)에서 관측한 결과 년 평균 381.6 ppm을 나타내었다(그림). 기상청 안면도 지구대기감시관측소에서는 385.3 ppm를 보였다. 연평균 증가율은 지난 13년간 (1990-2002년) 제주도 고산관측소에서 1.17 ppm - 2.02 ppm을 보였고 안면도에서는 1999년에서 2002년까지 4년 기간동안 2.30 - 4.07 ppm을 나타냈다. 한반도에서 관측된 이산화탄소 농도의 계절적 특징은 여름철에 일변화 폭이 크고 겨울철 일변화 폭이 작음을 보였다. 또한 우리나라 지역에 배출된 이산화탄소는 좁은 지역에 충분히 혼합되지 못한 상태로 존재하고 특히 중국으로부터의 영향이 있는 것으로 조사되었다. 또한 단순 선형 회귀모형과 2차 다항 회귀모형을 통해 향후 대기 중 이산화탄소 변동에 관한 4가지 시나리오가 계산되었다. 제주 고산관측소의 경우 2010년에 390.9 pp의 농도로 증가될 것이며 2015년에는 396.4-399.7 ppm에 도달할 것으로 나타났다. 안면도 지구대기감시관측소의 경우 2010년에 408.2 ppm 에 이르러 2015년에는 420 ppm을 넘을 것으로 추산된다. 제2의 온실가스 명명되는 메탄의 경우 근래 한반도에서 관측되어지는 메탄 농도는 1.9 ppm을 중심으로 이산화탄소에 비해서는 상당히 안정되어 있다. 계절별 대기의 메탄 농도는 가을철에 가장 높게 그리고 여름과 겨울 및 봄철의 순서로 농도가 나타났다. N2O의 경우 메탄과 달리 지난 4년간 약간의 상승 경향을 나타내었다. 세계기후자료센터(WDCGG)의 발간 28호에 의하면 현재 대기 중 N2O 의 농도는 연 평균 0.25%의 상승률로서 점차 상승하고 있는 것으로 보고되고 있다. CFC-11의 경우 1999년에서 2000년 사이 급격한 감소를 나타내었다가 이후 지금까지 안정적 감소 추세를 유지하고 있어 몬트리올 협약에 의한 정부의 사용규제에 대한 정책이 중요함을 보였다. 반면 CFC-12의 경우 지난 4년간 적은 감소 경향을 보였다.

What is the origin and nature of the cosmic X-ray background (here after CXRB)? Can detected discrete X-ray sources account for the CXRB? Since Giacconi et al. (1962) discovered homogeneous and isotropic cosmic X-ray background (here after CXRB), these questions have been investigated using data from several X-ray satellites but still remain technical issues such as the incompleteness of the used data. The CXRB consists of resolved and unresolved components. The resolved CXRB originates in discrete sources, while the unresolved CXRB originates in diffuse components and faint sources that are below current observational flux limits. The resolved CXRB can be directly measured from number counts of the discrete X-ray sources. In this talk, we will present the total CXRB flux density and the resolved fraction of the total CXRB using the Chandra multivelength project (ChaMP) X-ray point source catalog and the Chandra Deep Fields (CDFs) data. The ChaMP X-ray point source catalog contains ~6,800 X-ray sources detected in 149 Chandra observations covering wide sky area (~10 deg2) and provides X-ray photometric data in 8 different energy bands as well as X-ray spectral hardness ratios and colors. To quantitatively characterize the sensitivity and completeness of the ChaMP sample, we performed extensive simulations. In addition, the origin and cause of the break in the X-ray point source number counts will be discussed in this talk.