The Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) is a wide-eld photometric system installed by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI). Here, we present the overall technical specications of the KMTNet observation system, test observation results, data transfer and image processing procedure, and nally, the KMTNet science programs. The system consists of three 1.6 m wide-eld optical telescopes equipped with mosaic CCD cameras of 18k by 18k pixels. Each telescope provides a 2.0 by 2.0 square degree eld of view. We have nished installing all three telescopes and cameras sequentially at the Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in South Africa, and the Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) in Australia. This network of telescopes, which is spread over three dierent continents at a similar latitude of about 􀀀30 degrees, enables 24-hour continuous monitoring of targets observable in the Southern Hemisphere. The test observations showed good image quality that meets the seeing requirement of less than 1.0 arcsec in I-band. All of the observation data are transferred to the KMTNet data center at KASI via the international network communication and are processed with the KMTNet data pipeline. The primary scientic goal of the KMTNet is to discover numerous extrasolar planets toward the Galactic bulge by using the gravitational microlensing technique, especially earth-mass planets in the habitable zone. During the non-bulge season, the system is used for wide-eld photometric survey science on supernovae, asteroids, and external galaxies.

There is much observational evidence that active star formation is taking place in the Hii regions Sh 2-255 – 257. We present a photometric study of this star forming region (SFR) using imaging data obtained in passbands from the optical to the mid-infrared, in order to study the star formation process. A total of 218 members were identified using various selection criteria based on their observational properties. The SFR is reddened by at least E(B −V ) = 0.8 mag, and the reddening law toward the region is normal (RV = 3.1). From the zero-age main sequence fitting method it is confirmed that the SFR is 2.1 ± 0.3 kpc from the Sun. The median age of the identified members is estimated to be about 1.3 Myr from a comparison of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD) with stellar evolutionary models. The initial mass function (IMF) is derived from the HRD and the near-infrared (J, J −H) color-magnitude diagram. The slope of the IMF is about 􀀀 = −1.6 ± 0.1, which is slightly steeper than that of the Salpeter/Kroupa IMF. It implies that low-mass star formation is dominant in the SFR. The sum of the masses of all the identified members provides the lower limit of the cluster mass (169M⊙). We also analyzed the spectral energy distribution (SED) of pre-main sequence stars using the SED fitting tool of Robitaille et al., and confirm that there is a significant discrepancy between stellar mass and age obtained from two different methods based on the SED fitting tool and the HRD.

We present observational results from optical long-slit spectroscopy of parsec-scale jets of DG Tau. From HH 158 and HH 702, the optical emission lines of H, [O i] 6300, 6363, [N ii] 6548, 6584, and [S ii] 6716, 6731 are obtained. The kinematics and physical properties (i.e., electron density, electron temperature, ionization fraction, and mass-loss rate) are investigated along the blueshifted jet up to 650′′ distance from the source. For HH 158, the radial velocity ranges from -50 to -250 km s-1. The proper motion of the knots is 0:′′196 - 0:′′272 yr-1. The electron density is 104 cm-3 close to the star, and decreases to 102 cm-3 at 14′′ away from the star. Ionization fraction indicates that the gas is almost neutral in the vicinity of the source. It increases up to over 0.4 along the distance. HH 702 is located at 650′′ from the source. It shows  -80 km s-1 in the radial velocity. Its line ratios are similar to those at knot C of HH 158. The mass-loss rate is estimated to be about  10-7 M⊙ yr-1, which is similar to values obtained from previous studies.