A space map built by precisely exploring the entire sky of the southern hemisphere with the Korean t..

A research team from the Korea Astronomical Research Institute and Seoul National University will observe 600 days
Using the KMTNet, a high-quality image containing 200 million objects in the southern hemisphere
Distributed through the International Data Center in the U.S. and France

사진 확대 The spiral galaxy NGC2442. Thanks to the high resolution of KS4, we can confirm the asymmetrically curved spiral arm structure and the appearance of the interstellar gas dark band distribution. [Jang Seowon / Jeong Man-geun (Seoul National University)]

A space map built by precisely exploring the entire sky of the southern hemisphere with the Korean telescope will be released to astronomers around the world for free. Analysts say that the Korean astronomical community, which has relied on overseas observation data so far, has changed its status as a “supplier” that directly provides key data to the world.

Professor Lim Myung-shin of Seoul National University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute announced on the 29th that they have released a video map of the southern hemisphere sky and a list of more than 200 million celestial bodies to the world through the International Astronomical Data Center. Since 2019, the research team has collected vast amounts of space data for more than 600 days and processed them into high-quality images that can be used directly for scientific research.

The KMTNet telescope used in this large-scale observation is distributed in three locations: Chile, South Africa, and Australia. It is characterized by being able to watch the southern hemisphere sky 24 hours a day without interruption by using the time difference according to the rotation of the Earth. The data was distributed to the Astro Data Lab in the United States and the Strasbourg Astronomical Data Center (CDS) in France.

The released space map is expected to play a key role in the search for “surprise objects” that suddenly flash in space, such as gravitational wave explosions and gamma-ray explosions.When a new starlight appears in space, a precise reference image of the previous sky is essential to identify whether it is an original star or a new phenomenon.

Existing U.S. and Australian exploration data had limitations in that there were many gaps because only very bright stars were visible or the observation area was jagged. On the other hand, the Korean research team’s map effectively filled the gaps in existing exploration by evenly photographing the entire sky while capturing even dark celestial bodies that are invisible to the public. This large-scale optical exploration is also the only one that provides all four combinations of light filters (B, V, R, I) widely used in astronomical research.

Until now, large-scale optical exploration of the southern hemisphere sky has been led by U.S., Australian, and European institutions, said Lim Myung-shin, a professor at Seoul National University who led the study. “This achievement through large-scale observational exploration conducted by Korea’s own facilities means that Korea has become a supplier of astronomical data, which symbolizes the qualitative growth of Korea’s astronomical space research.”

In fact, this observation has been used to search for optical counterparts in gamma-ray explosions and gravitational wave events, and will be an essential reference data for the study of unexpected celestial bodies in the era of large-scale space observation. said Lee Chung-wook, head of the Astronomy and Space Exploration Center.

사진 확대 KS4 images of the Centaurus constellation cluster, a collection of elliptical galaxies NGC 4696 and its surrounding galaxies. Thanks to the wide viewing angle of KS4, a large number of dense cluster environments and images of bright central galaxies can be easily captured in a single image.[Jang Seowon / Jeong Man-geun (Seoul National University)] 사진 확대 Observation images of areas close to our galaxy’s face. Numerous stars belonging to our galaxy fill the screen, and in the meantime, galaxies and various celestial bodies can be seen together in the background. [Jang Seowon / Jeong Man-geun (Seoul National University)] 사진 확대 A view of the disk-shaped galaxy NGC 5292. The stable disk structure and the distribution of the surrounding galaxies can be checked.[Jang Seowon / Jeong Man-geun (Seoul National University)] 사진 확대 Images of the merging galaxies NGC 5291 and NGC 5291B belonging to the Abell cluster 3574 (centre). The structure of small blue objects passing up and down the NGC 5291 in a bow shape is the tidal dwarf galaxy, which was newly created by tidal action during the galaxy’s merger with other galaxies in the past.[Jang Seowon / Jeong Man-geun (Seoul National University)]