Wide-field $JHK_s$ images obtained with the SIRIUS near-infrared camera of the IRSF 1.4m telescope are used to examine the tidal structures of the spatial stellar configuration around six metal-poor ([Fe/H]< -1.0) globular clusters located within 3 kpc from the Galactic center. The radial surface density profiles are obtained from the surface photometry of the cluster images and the star counting for the photometric data. For the star counting, candidates of cluster member stars are selected with an filtering algorithm in color-magnitude diagrams. We find that the six target clusters show tidal overdensity features in the radial surface density profiles. There is a break inside the tidal radius for each cluster, and the profile in the outer overdensity region is characterized by a power law. Two-dimensional density maps of all the clusters show distorted asymmetric stellar configurations in the outer region. In five out of the six target clusters, the overdensity features are likely to be associated with the effects of the Galaxy dynamical interaction and the cluster space motions. The observed tidal configurations of stars suggest that several metal-poor clusters in the Galactic bulge are possibly surviving remnants of mergers to build the old stellar system of the Galactic bulge.

We develop a radio receiver system operating at ${\lambda}{\sim}1.3$ mm for the 6 m telescope of Seoul Radio Astronomy Observatory. It consists of a dual polarization receiver, a couple of IF processing units, two FFT spectrometers, and associated software. By adopting sideband-separating superconductor mixers with image band terminated to waveguide load at 4.2 K, we achieve $T_{RX}{\leq}100$ K and $T_{sys}$ less than 150 K at best weather condition over 210-250 GHz frequency range. The intermediate frequency signal of 3.5-4.5 GHz is down converted to 0-1 GHz and fed into the FFT spectrometers. The spectrometer covers 1 GHz bandwidth with a spectral resolution of 61 KHz. Test observations are conducted toward several radio sources to evaluate the performance of the system. Aperture and beam efficiencies measured by observing planets are found to be typically 44 ~ 59% and 47 ~ 61%, respectively over the RF band, which are consistent with those measured at 3 mm band previously.

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.

We present results on the intrinsic brightness temperature of a sample of compact radio sources observed at 86 GHz using the Global Millimeter VLBI Array. We use the observed brightness temperatures at 86 GHz and the observed superluminal motions at 15 GHz for the sample in order to constrain the characteristic intrinsic brightness temperature of the sample. With a statistical method for studying the intrinsic brightness temperatures of innermost jet cores of compact radio sources, assuming that all sources have the same intrinsic brightness temperature and the viewing angles of their jets are around the critical value for the maximal apparent speed, we find that sources in the sample have a characteristic intrinsic brightness temperature, $T_0=4.8^{+2.6}_{-1.5}{\times}10^9K$, which is lower than the equipartition temperature for the condition that the particle energy equals to the magnetic field energy. Our results suggest that the VLBI cores seen at 86 GHz may be representing a jet region where the magnetic field energy dominates the total energy in the jet.

We present near-infrared light curves of HBC 722 after its the September 2010 outburst. We have been monitoring its near-infrared light curves since November 2010 with Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute Infrared Camera System (KASINICS). HBC 722 exhibits large changes in optical and near-infrared brightness since its outburst. The J, H, and $K_s$ light curves over about 2.5 years show that in all observed bands HBC 722 progressively became fainter until around April 2011, down to J ~10.7, H ~9.9, $K_s$ ~9.3, but it is getting brighter again. Large scatter in the obtained light curve prevents us from finding whether there is any short timescale variation as reported in other optical observations. The near-infrared color of HBC 722 is becoming bluer since its outburst. The pre-outburst Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) of HBC 722 is consistent with that of a slightly reddened Class II YSO with the exception of the extraordinary IR-excess in the far-infrared region.

Magnetohydrostatic equilibria, in which the Lorentz force, the plasma pressure force and the gravitational force balance out to zero, are widely adopted as the zeroth order states of many astrophysical plasma structures. A magnetic flux-current surface is a surface, in which both magnetic field lines and current lines lie. We for the first time derive the necessary and sufficient condition for existence of magnetic flux-current surfaces in magnetohydrostatic equilibria. It is also shown that the existence of flux-current surfaces is a necessary (but not sufficient) condition for the ratio of gravity-aligned components of current density and magnetic field to be constant along each field line. However, its necessary and sufficient condition is found to be very restrictive. This finding gives a significant constraint in modeling solar coronal magnetic fields as force-free fields using photospheric magnetic field observations.