• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.29 no.spc1
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• pp.443-444
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• 1996

From 146 B.C. to A.D. 1760, 363 sets of cometary observations have been recorded in Chinese Ancient Records of Celestial Phenomena. The positions of all recorded comets, or their paths, on the sky are compared. Taking into account the perturbations of all nine planets and using the numerical method of N-body problem, the orbits of well-recorded comets are calculated. Identification of a periodic comet is presented.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.129-137
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• 1999

We arranged ancient Korean calendar during Koryo dynasty (A.D. 918-1392) according to Julian calendar. We used two representative history books, Koryo-sa (高麗史) and Koryo-sa Jeolyo (高麗史節要), which contain thea stronomical and the historical records chronologically. We found all 19,727 ganji dates(日辰) and 102 misrecoreded ganji dates in two books. Most of the data are arranged based on those two books, and doubtful data are identified using the eclipse, historical events and lunar phase calculations etc. Although Korea, China, and Japan were using basically the same calendar since ancient times, their calendars show some significant disagreement. We found that arranged chronological tables during Koryo dynasty were, in some cases, different from those of China and Japan.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.199-226
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• 2008

We investigate astronomical materials listed in the book of Bibliographie Coreenne written by Maurice Courant. He classified ancient Korean books into nine Divisions (部) and thirty six Classes (類), and published them as three volumes (ranging from 1894 to 1896) and one supplement (in 1901). In total, 3,821 books including astronomical ones are listed together with information on physical size, possessional place, bibliographical note, and so forth. Although this book is an essential one in the field of Korea bibliography and contains many astronomical materials such as Cheon-Mun-Ryu-Cho 天文類抄, Si-Heon-Seo 時憲書, and Cheon-Sang-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do 天象列次分野之圖, it has not been well known to the public nor to astronomical society. Of 3,821 catalogues, we found that about 50 Items (種) are related to astronomy or astrology, and verified that most of them are located in the Kyujanggak Royal Library 奎章閣. We also found an unknown astronomical chart, Hon-Cheon-Chong-Seong-Yeol-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do 渾天總星列次分野之圖. Because those astronomical materials are not well known to international astronomical community and there have been few studies on the materials in Korea, we here introduce and review them, particularly with the astronomical viewpoint.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.252-263
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• 2019

Objectives : This research aimed to 1) analyze the true meanings of the chapter, 'Wigi Haeng (Wei Qi Xing), the movement of guard qi' in Youngchu (Ling Shu) from the point of view of ancient Chinese Astronomy, 2) calculate the speed of Wigi over 24 Chinese seasons, 3) analyze the true meaning of daytime and nighttime in the chapter. Methods : 1) The chapter 'Wigi Haeng' was analyzed using concepts of ancient Chinese astronomy, 2) the records of angular distances of 28 constellations in the Book of Han (Han Shu) were used to analyze the meanings, and 3) the records of lengths of daytime and nighttime in the Book of Hou Han (Hou Han Shu) were used to calculate the speed of Wigi. Results : 1) The author of the chapter 'Wigi Haeng' did not consider the irregularity in the angular distances of the 28 Chinese constellations (Su). 2) The commentary in the Huangjenaegyong Taeso (Huang Di Nei Jing Tai Su) about the constellations in the chapter is correct. 3) The speed of Wigi changes in daytime and nighttime depending on the seasons. 4) When the speed of Wigi increases in daytime, the speed in nighttime decreases, and vice versa. 5) The beginning of daytime in 'Wigi Haeng' is not the time of sunrise but the time of dawn (2.5 Gak before sunrise). The nighttime ends 2.5 Gak after sunset. Conclusions : 1) The chapter 'Wigi Haeng' demonstrates the ancient astronomical point of view on the universe and the movement of Wigi. The speed of Wigi is variable. 2) This chapter does not address the irregularity in the angular distances of the 28 Su. 3) More research is needed on the meaning of daytime and nighttime in 'Wigi Haeng'.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.125-138
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• 2020

We determine the observing sites for eclipses of large magnitude recorded in ancient Chinese chronicles from 200 BCE to 900 CE, by adopting the difference between terrestrial time and universal time, ΔT, given by Morrison & Stephenson (2004). The records of solar eclipses with large magnitude are divided into four groups in accordance with the historical variations of the capital cities of ancient Chinese dynasties. We determine areas in which all the eclipses in each group, with an eclipse magnitude larger than a certain threshold value, could be observed. We find that these areas coincide with the historical capitals, which agrees with the general idea that the solar eclipses were observed at the capital of each dynasty. This result also verifies the ΔT values during the period from 100 BCE to 400 CE, during which historical records of eclipses are so rare that the ΔT values can only be obtained by interpolating the long-term data. Moreover, we show that the eclipses described by the term Ji in East-Asian history are not all total eclipses; their mean magnitude is 0.96 ± 0.04. We find that complementary expressions, such as dark daytime and appearance of stars during the eclipse, strengthen the possibility that eclipses described by the term Ji were total. We also provide quantitative definitions for expressions such as 'being not complete and like a hook', 'being almost complete', 'visibility of stars during the eclipse', and 'darkness during an eclipse.' The literal meanings of these expressions are in agreement with the recent physical modeling of sky brightness during total eclipses provided by Können & Hinz (2008).

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 1968

1. 28 candidates of novae and supernovae were selected from ancient Korean observational records. 2. 4 Supernovae were confirmed. 3. 1 guest star was suspected as the original explosion of Cas A. 4. 9 asterisked positions were suggested for further study in the hope of finding additional supernovae-radio sources.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.65-71
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• 2008

It has been considered that 'exhausted eclipses' (日食旣) were total eclipses. However, modern precise calculations show that a significant fraction of such records are not realized to be total. Thus we doubt that the two concepts are equivalent. Here we investigate the meaning of 'exhausted eclipses' in the east-Asian history. We first find that eclipses of magnitude greater than 0.8 were regarded as 'exhausted eclipses' by a Korean astronomer of the 18th-century Choson dynasty. His notion was based upon the definition of 'exhausted eclipses' in the ephemerides of pre-modern Chinese dynasties. According to those ephemerides, the 'exhausted eclipses', whose magnitude is greater than 0.8, have the first contact at the western part of the solar disk and the fourth contact at the eastern part of the solar disk. A simple geometrical calculation shows that such cases really occur when the magnitude of eclipse is greater than 0.7. We pointed out that such an ancient definition might not be impractical for ancient astronomers, because the uncertainty of eclipse magnitude estimated by ancient Chinese ephemerides was 10% and the human sight has a spatial resolution of 1.2 arcmin, which is approximately one twentieth of the Sun's angular diameter.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.155-165
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• 2010

In this study, we investigate the changes in the equatorial lodge degrees and polar distance degrees of determinative stars in the ancient Chinese archives. Confirmed is the fact that the coordinate values of those determinative stars defined in B.C. 104 had been used until the 8th century but were modified by the observations of Li Chunfeng (李淳風) in the early 7th century and Yixing (一行) in 723 A.D. The results of this study are compared with those in History of Chinese Astronomical Observations of Pan Nai. By applying the results of comtemporary astrodynamical calculations, their reliability is checked, and the corrected catalogues of Shi Shi (石氏) and Yixing are provided. The positional accuracy of those observations is estimated to be one degree.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.177-183
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• 2000

We arrange Korean ancient calendar with Solar calendar during Choseon Dynasty(A.D. 1392-1910). In this period, we have one representable history books and several books, and most of information for date are found from them, ChoseonWangjosillok(조선왕조실록) and Jeungbomunheonbigo(증보문헌비고), etc. In those books many astronomical data and calendar information data are contained, so we can make chronological tables. Most of the data are arranged based on those several books, and for doubtable data are identified from eclipse, historical events and lunar phase calculations etc. We find that arranged chronological tables during Choseon Dynasty are similar to that of China and somewhat different from that of Japan. In addition we summarize all misrecorded date data in ChoseonWangjosillok

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.73.2-73.2
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• 2013

In the current ${\Lambda}CDM$ hierarchical merging paradigm, a galaxy like the Milky Way formed by numerous mergers of ancient subsystems. Most of the relics of these building blocks, however, are yet to be discovered or identified. Recent progress in the Milky Way globular cluster research is throwing new light on this perspective. The discoveries of multiple stellar populations having different heavy element abundances in some massive globular clusters are suggesting that they are most likely the remaining cores or relics of disrupted dwarf galaxies. In this talk, we will report our progress in the (1) narrow-band photometry, (2) low-resolution spectroscopy, and (3) population modeling for this growing group of peculiar globular clusters.