CCD photometric observations of the globular cluster (GC), M53 (NGC 5024), are performed using the 1.8 m telescope at the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory in Korea on the same nights (2002 April and 2003 May) as the observations of the GC M92 (NGC 6341) reported by Cho and Lee using the same instrumental setup. The data for M53 is reduced using the same method as used for M92 by Cho and Lee, including preprocessing, point-spread function fitting photometry, and standardization etc. Therefore, M53 and M92 are on the same photometric system defined by Landolt, and the photometry of M53 and M92 is tied together as closely as possible. After complete photometric reduction, the V versus B − V , V versus V − I, and V versus B − I color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of M53 are produced to derive the relative ages of M53 and M92 and derive the various characteristics of its CMDs in future analysis. From the present analysis, the relative ages of M53 and M92 are derived using the
(B − V ) method reported by VandenBerg et al. The relative age of M53 is found to be 1.6 ± 0.85 Gyr younger than that of M92 if the absolute age of M92 is taken to be 14 Gyr. This relative age difference between M53 and M92 causes slight differences in the horizontal-branch morphology of these two GCs.

A search for hot and bright white dwarfs (WDs) in the Milky Way globular clusters M13 (NGC 6205) and M22 (NGC 6656) is carried out using the deep and homogeneous V I photometric catalog of Anderson et al. and and Sarajedini et al., based on data taken with the ACS/WFC aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). V versus V − I color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of M13 and M22 are constructed and numerous spurious detections are rejected according to their photometric quality parameters qfit(V ) and qfit(I). In the case of M13, further radial restriction is applied to reject central stars with higher photometric errors due to central crowding. From each resultant V versus V −I CMD, sixteen and thirteen WD candidates are identified in M13 and M22, respectively. They are identified as stellar objects in the accompanying ACS/WFC images and are found to be randomly distributed across the central regions of M13 and M22. Their positions in the CMDs are in the bright part of the DA WD cooling sequences indicating that they are true WDs. In order to confirm their nature, follow-up spectroscopic observations are needed.

We carried out near-IR photometric and optical spectroscopic observations of V582 Aur, which is a FU Orionis type object, to investigate any periodic and/or aperiodic variations. We obtained light curves on the scale of a night and a year, in J, H and Ks bands with KASINICS (KASI Near Infrared Camera System) attached to the BOAO (Bohyun-san Optical Astronomy Observatory) 1.8-m reflector in Youngcheon, South Korea and examined photometric variations on the two time scales. So far we have not found any periodic brightness variations on the scale of a night. On the other hand, we have found that there seems to be a periodic brightness variation with a period of approximately 45 days. In addition, high-resolution optical spectroscopic observations of V582 Aur were performed from February 2013 to May 2014 with the high-resolution echelle spectrograph BOES attached to the BOAO 1.8-m re ector. We analyzed several spectral lines to understand the physical state of V582 Aur. The P Cyg profiles are clearly shown in the Hα line and Na I D line.

A search for luminous white dwarfs (WDs) in several nearby Galactic globular clusters (GCs) was carried out using the deep and homogeneous photometric catalog of Galactic GCs taken with the ACS/WFC aboard the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) by Sarajedini et al. and Anderson et al.. It resulted in the identification of luminous WD candidates in the GCs M13 (NGC 6205) and M22 (NGC 6656). The purpose of the present study is to identify luminous WDs in the deep and homogeneous V versus V - I color-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) of several nearby Galactic GCs taken with the ACS/WFC aboard the HST. Using photometric data for the GCs M13 and M22 that are now in the public domain, the V versus V - I CMDs of the GCs M13 and M22 were constructed. Many spurious detections in the CMDs were removed using the photometric quality parameters qfit(V ) and qfit(I), and a radial restriction was applied to the CMDs to remove the central stars with higher photometric errors due to central crowding. From each resultant V versus V - I CMD of the GCs M13 and M22, a dozen or so luminous WD candidates were identified. They were confirmed as stellar objects in the accompanying ACS/WFC images and their positions in the CMDs were in the bright part of the DA WD cooling curve. Therefore, the luminous WD candidates in the GCs M13 and M22 seem to be true luminous WDs, and spectroscopic observations are needed to confirm their true identity.