To date, more than 150 exo-solar planets have been observed by various methods such as spectroscopic, photometric, astrometric, gravitational lensing, pulsar timing methods. However, all these are indirect methods; they do not directly image the planets. Only free-floating planets or their 'ana-log' have been directly detected so far. Thus the next milestone is the direct imaging of any kinds of planetary mass objects orbiting around normal (young) stars, which might have been associated with protoplanetary disks, the sites of planet formation. I will describe some SUBARU efforts to detect self-luminous young giant planets as companions as well as direct imaging of the protoplanetary disks of ${\~}$ 수식 이미지100 AU size. The results of near-infrared coronagraphic imaging with adaptive optics are briefly presented on AB Aur, HD 142527, T Tau, and DH Tau. Our results demonstrate the importance of high-resolution (${\~}$ 수식 이미지0.1 arcsec) direct imaging over indirect observations such as modeling based on spectral energy distributions. The SUBARU observations are a prelude to ALMA from the morphological point of view.

Gaudi, Naber & Sackett pointed out that if an event is caused by a lens system containing more than two planets, all planets will affect the central region of the magnification pattern, and thus the existence of the multiple planets can be inferred by detecting additionally deformed anomalies from intensive monitoring of high magnification microlensing events. Unfortunately, this method has important limitations in identifying the existence of multiple planets and determining their parameters (the mass ratio and the instantaneous projected separation) due to the degeneracy of the resulting light curve anomalies from those induced by a single planet and the complexity of multiple planet lensing models. In this paper, we propose a new channel to search for multiple planets via microlensing. The method is based on the fact that the lensing light curve anomalies induced by multiple planets are well approximated by the superposition of those of the single planet systems where the individual planet-primary pairs act as independent lens systems. Then, if the source trajectory passes both of the outer deviation regions induced by the individual planets, one can unambiguously identify the existence of the multiple planets. We illustrate that the probability of successively detecting light curve anomalies induced by two Jovian-mass planets located in the lensing zone through this channel will be substantial. Since the individual anomalies can be well described by much simpler single planet lensing models, the proposed method has an important advantage of allowing one to accurately determine the parameters of the individual planets.

The aim of this study was to investigate the factors affecting earth science problem-solving performances of elementary school pre-service teachers. The participants of the study were 81 students attending an elementary school teacher education university. The instruments of the study were paper-and-pencil tests, questionnaires, and interviews. The tests mainly measured the participants' problem solving abilities in the motions of the moon and the planets. Correlation and multiple regression techniques were used for data analysis. The results demonstrated that the pre-service teachers' problem solving abilities were low. Problem-solving performances were affected by the procedural knowledge, the participants' perception of the past earth science performance, self-efficacy, and the prerequisite declarative knowledge. Contrary to our expectation, the spatial visualization ability was not found to be related to the problem-solving performances. Implications of the study are drawn, and suggestions are made for further research.

이 연구의 목적은 예비교사들의 달과 행성 운동의 문제 해결 과정에 대한 연구를 통하여 문제 해결 실패 요인을 파악하고 달과 행성의 운동에 대한 효과적 교수전략을 탐색하는 것을 목적으로 한다. 연구 대상은 초등 예비 교사 40명과 중등 예비 교사 20명이었으며 이들은 지구과학의 천문 분야를 한 학기 수강하였다. 검사도구는 지필 검사와 면담이었다. 연구 결과 예비교사들의 문제 해결 정도는 낮았다. 초등 예비교사들의 문제 해결 정도는 중등 과학 예비교사에 비하여 더 낮았다. 문제 해결 실패 요인을 요약하면 다음과 같다. (1) 선행 지식의 부족 (2) 해결 원리에 의한 문제표상 실패 (3) 배운 지식의 다른 상황(행성)에의 일반화 실패 (4) 일상과 문제 해결 상황의 관점에 대한 변별 부족 (5) 인과적 이해 대신 사실적 지식 암기 학습. 이상의 달과 행성의 운동 문제 해결 실패 요인은 일반적 문제 해결 실패자가 가진 특징과 달과 행성의 운동 과제가 갖는 특징의 결합이라고 해석할 수 있다. 이 연구 결과를 바탕으로 달과 행성의 운동 과제의 특징을 고려하여 문제 해결 능력을 높이기 위한 몇 가지 교수 방안이 제시되었다.

We have presented detected molecules, atoms, radicals, ions, and dimers in the atmospheres of planets and comets from Earth-based and spaceborne observatories during the last 3 decades. We have reviewed spectroscopic studies on the auroral emissions and air glows of the giant planets, and briefly summarized spectroscopic observations of dimers in the atmospheres of the giant planets and Titan. In particular, we highlighted the recent detections of new molecular emissions and absorptions in the spectra of the giant planets, Titan, and recent bright comets from spaceborne or ground-based observatories. We also reviewed current models and theories of the origin and evolution of the solar system, and implications of isotopic ratios in these atmospheres.

We show that spacing patterns of planets and satellites in the solar system are formulatable in a single form. It is suggested that a possible explanation for the rule might be the orbital resonance effect, which has existed at an earlier epoch of the solar (planet) system. By extrapolating the formulated spacing patterns beyond the sun-Pluto distance, we find the sun-Planet X distance falls in a range ( 46 ∼ 79 ) A. U..

We have carried out photometric follow-up observations of bright transiting extrasolar planets using the CbNUOJ 0.6 m telescope. We have tested the possibility of obtaining high photometric precision by applying the telescope defocus technique, allowing the use of several hundred seconds in exposure time for a single measurement. We demonstrate that this technique is capable of obtaining a root-mean-square scatter of sub-millimagnitude order over several hours for a V ~10 host star, typical for transiting planets detected from ground-based survey facilities. We compared our results with transit observations from a telescope operated in in-focus mode. High photometric precision was obtained due to the collection of a larger amount of photons, resulting in a higher signal compared to other random and systematic noise sources. Accurate telescope tracking is likely to further contribute to lowering systematic noise by exposing the same pixels on the CCD. Furthermore, a longer exposure time helps reduce the effect of scintillation noise which otherwise has a significant effect for small-aperture telescopes operated in in-focus mode. Finally we present the results of modelling four light-curves in which a root-mean-square scatter of 0.70 to 2.3 milli-magnitudes was achieved.

Variabilities in the solar wind cause disturbances throughout the heliosphere on all temporal and spatial scales, which leads to changeable space weather. As a view of space weather forecasting, in particular, it is important to know direct and indirect causes modulating the space environment near the Earth in advance. Recently, there are discussions on a role of the interaction of the solar wind with Mercury in affecting the solar wind velocity in the Earth’s neighborhood during its inferior conjunctions. In this study we investigate a question of whether other parameters describing the space environment near the Earth are modulated by the inner planets’ wake, by examining whether the interplanetary magnetic field and the proton density in the solar wind observed by the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft, and the geomagnetic field via the Dst index and Auroral Electrojet index (AE index) are dependent upon the relative position of the inner planets. We find there are indeed apparent variations. For example, the mean variations of the geomagnetic fields measured in the Earth’s neighborhood apparently have varied with a timescale of about 10 to 25 days. Those variations in the parameters we have studied, however, turn out to be a part of random fluctuations and have nothing to do with the relative position of inner planets. Moreover, it is found that variations of the proton density in the solar wind, the Dst index, and the AE index are distributed with the Gaussian distribution. Finally, we point out that some of properties in the behavior of the random fluctuation are to be studied.

Quite recently, it has been suggested that the interaction of the solar wind with Mercury results in the variation in the solar wind velocity in the Earth’s neighborhood during inferior conjunctions with Mercury. This suggestion has important implications both on the plasma physics of the interplanetary space and on the space weather forecast. In this study we have attempted to answer a question of whether the claim is properly tested. We confirm that there are indeed ups and downs in the profile of the solar wind velocity measured at the distance of 1 AU from the Sun. However, the characteristic attribute of the variation in the solar wind velocity during the inferior conjunctions with Mercury is found to be insensitive to the phase of the solar cycles, contrary to an earlier suggestion. We have found that the cases of the superior conjunctions with Mercury and of even randomly chosen data sets rather result in similar features. Cases of Venus are also examined, where it is found that the ups and downs with a period of ~ 10 to 15 days can be also seen. We conclude, therefore, that those variations in the solar wind velocity turn out to be a part of random fluctuations and have nothing to do with the relative position of inner planets. At least, one should conclude that the solar wind velocity is not a proper observable modulated by inner planets at the distance of 1 AU from the Sun in the Earth’s neighborhood during inferior conjunctions.