ASTRONOMICAL SURVEY ON THE SEVEN-STAR STONES OF THE WOON-JU-SA TEMPLE IN HAWOON, CHOLLANAMDO

전남(全南) 화순(和順) 운주사(雲住寺)의 칠성석(七星石)에 관(關)한 천문학적(天文學的) 조사(調査)

According to historical records, Woon-Ju-Sa temple in Hwa-Soon, Chollanamdo, have had one thousand stone buddhas and one thousand stone pagodas, located south-west hill side of Woon-Ju-Sa is the Seven-Star-Stone(SSS). It consist of seven circular rocks with varying sizes that form a pattern similar to the constellation Ursa Major. SSS(Seven Star Stone) is an important astronomical remain because it might be one of the oldest records showing stellar brightness in Korea. We have compared the sizes of 888s with the magnitudes of stars of Ursa Major. It is found that the sizes of SSSs do roughly represent the magnitudes of Ursa Major stars in a way consistent with the magnitude scale used in Chun-Sang-Yul-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do(天象列次分野之圖) of Chosun.