▶ Interview
Jeong Eun Lee, Department of Physics and Astronomy professor
Human life is brief compared to that of stars. Nevertheless, our presence in this world urges us to do our best to shine in this fleeting moment. How on earth can we experience a glittering moment like stars? Professor Lee suggests that the answer lies in interactions with others.
Last August, an interesting research article was featured in The Astrophysical Journal, an international professional journal published by the American Astronomical
Society
(AAS) in the fields of astronomy and astrophysics. The international research team led by Professor Lee at the Department of Physics and Astronomy revealed the formation
process of multiple star systems. Typically, a star is initially born as part of a multiple star system whose detailed formation process had been unknown. Professor Lee
observed “IRAS 04239+2436,” a trinary protostar system, using the world’s largest Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope, located in the Atacama
Desert, Chile, for two hours. During this observation, she was able to identify that sulfur monoxide molecules form three colossal spiral gas structures (referred to as
streamers). Moreover, she discovered that these streamers are connected to embryo stars and serve as an umbilical cord that supplies them growth materials by calculating the
speed and movement of the sulfur monoxide gas.
“Despite the challenge of scientifically interpreting events occurring over approximately 500,000 years via observation images and data obtained over a period of two hours,
basic knowledge from subjects including physics, mathematics, chemistry, and fluid dynamics enables this work to some extent. However, mere observation data may be insufficient
to precisely analyze the mechanical steps through which this process has proceeded. To resolve this conundrum, I decided to employ computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
simulations run by a supercomputer.”
The collaboration’s starting point was a coincidence. Professor Lee, who was composing a related research article, attended a workshop held in Japan and there observed a
presentation by Professor Tomoaki Matsumoto from Hosei University. His research results obtained via CFD simulations matched the observation and research outcomes by Professor
Lee, and she proposed a collaborative research project, showing him observation images that had never been released to anyone.
“Based on the images and data I offered, Professor Matsumoto found that three spiral streamers are supplying growth materials to embryo stars, as my research discovered, by
running CFD simulations using the supercomputer specialized for astronomy at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) for one year. Furthermore, his simulations
revealed new things. Previous star formation scenarios are divided into two versions: the turbulent scenario in which an interstellar cloud encompassing turbulent flows
collapses into several high-density gas masses, and further evolves into a wide binary system, and the global hierarchical collapse and fragmentation scenario where a disk
formed in gas masses collapses and evolves into a contact binary system. Our simulation results have revealed that these two scenarios are in fact concurrent. This achievement
is an innovation arising from active interaction and collaboration with a CFD simulation expert.”
In retrospect, interactions and collaboration have been driving forces for Professor Lee. A physics lover, Professor Lee was admitted to the Department of Earth Science
Education, College of Education in 1991, and she reminisced about her graduate school years by stating, “My studies at the Department of Earth Science Education contributed
significantly to my convergent thinking.”
“This study of geology, oceanography, atmospheric science, astronomy, and geophysics at the Department of Earth Science Education enabled me to comprehend how academic
knowledge could be applied and how these fields influence one another. Meanwhile, I organized a reading club on A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, which had
been
gaining popularity at the time, and I consistently extended my academic interactions by participating in various on-campus events, shouting ‘Love Classmates, Love Country!’
This positivity allowed me to broaden my horizons. Moreover, I gradually became familiar with accepting different ideas and interacting with others.”
This open-mindedness led Professor Lee to the world of astronomy. She was captivated by her second-year astronomy course. In contrast with the eternal history of space, the
fleeting nature of life was a massive shock to her. At the age of six, she spent two years with her grandmother in a rural area where she witnessed the shifts in time and
seasons as well as the birth and death of people close to her. During her secondary school years, she pondered the meaning of being while reading philosophy books. Facing the
scientific fact that all the beings in this world are born out of cosmic dust and ultimately return to this dust, she was able to learn a meaningful lesson after discarding
previous abstract investigations into being: that she should be fully engaged in life and the current moment. Moreover, she could not help but fall in love with astronomy where
she could best use her favorite subjects: physics and mathematics. After completing the undergraduate program, she did not hesitate to move forward to graduate school in
astronomy.
The convergent thinking she had developed at SNU was tested while she was completing her doctoral dissertation. At that time, astronomers investigated the mechanical and
chemical processes separately when exploring the star formation process, whereas Professor Lee was able to interpret the observation data more comprehensively and consistently
by combining these two approaches. Unusually, she was selected immediately after completing her doctorate program at the University of Texas for the Hubble Fellowship Program,
which enabled her to continue her postdoctoral research at UCLA. Through collaboration with meteorologists there, she was able to combine the oxygen isotope measurements of a
meteorite with the model she created during her doctoral program to determine that the sun was born as a member of a star cluster and that it alone survived as the current
solar system.
“Collaboration is a necessary and sufficient condition that must be employed in modern astronomy. A common interest among astronomers is securing observation time for
high-performance telescopes essential for space observation and research, including the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), James Webb Space Telescope (JWST),
and James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). In this case, each astronomer is required to painstakingly prepare and propose a new observation project and present weighty
conclusions to the world by systematically analyzing the results obtained through the secured observation time. This process exceeds the capacity of one person. In this
respect, the ‘muscles of interaction and collaboration’ I acquired at my alma mater through various activities have substantially contributed to consistently producing research
results.”
As Professor Lee commented, the benefits of interaction and collaboration cannot be immediately demonstrated. Rather, steady improvement through various experiences,
communication, and interactions maximizes the power of collaboration. Professor Lee emphasized that “the college years are a valuable time to put multifaceted collaboration
into practice by departing from the hectic entrance exam schedule,” recommending active interactions with avid interest in various fields and people in addition to one’s major.
Remarking that "this could brighten the lives of people who exist for a fleeting moment compared to the life of a star," her eyes were filled with deep affection toward her
juniors and students at SNU.
