• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.37-54
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• 2013

China and Korea have a long history of star charts, dating from the prehistoric period. Historically, Korean astronomy has been deeply influenced by China over the last two thousand years, particularly on constellation system. Therefore, Chinese and Korean traditional star charts have many similarities in terms of shape of constellation, number of star, and so forth. Korean star charts, however, have lots of unique characteristics distinguishing from Chinese ones, such as, size of star and position of constellation. Overall knowledge of the Chinese star chart is required to study the Korean star chart. In this paper, I focus on introducing selected star charts in China and Korea. Although this review is very limited, I hope that this paper is helpful in research in the field of historical astronomy.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.411-418
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• 2012

We study the correlation between distributions of astronomical records and historical events using historical meteor (shower) records. In Korean chronicles, planets and meteor (shower) records are the most abundant astronomical phenomena. And they represent a general tendency of the number distribution of whole astronomical observations. We examine the correlation for the number distribution between meteors (showers) and planets during A.D. 1200-1700 and find that both records have a similar distribution. We classify historical events into three grades according to the social impact, and investigate the correlation between distributions of meteor (shower) records with social events, such as, new king's accession to the throne, foreign invasions, and domestic turmoils. From the statistical analysis, we cannot find any correlation between the meteor (shower) records and the political events. Therefore, we conclude that Korean historical records have not been influenced by the political events. We also examine the correlation between Chinese and Japanese meteor (shower) records and political events for A.D. 1200-1700, respectively, but cannot find any correlations between them.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.671-681
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• 2009

In the equilibrium theory of tides by Newton, tide on the Earth is a phenomenon driven by differential gravity contributed both by the Sun and the Moon. Due to the direct link of the generic tidal effect to the oceanic tides, college students in the earth science education department are exposed to this theory through oceanography lectures as well as astronomy lectures. Common oceanography textbooks adopt a non-inertial reference frame fixed to the Earth in which the fictitious, centrifugal force appears. This has a potential risk to provide misconceptions among students in various aspects including the followings: 1) this is how Newton originally derived the equilibrium theory of tides, and 2) the tide is a phenomenon appearing only in rotating systems. We show that in astronomy, a much simpler description, which employs the inertial frame, is generally used to explain tides and thus causes less confusion. We argue that the description used in astronomy is preferable both in the viewpoints of simplicity and ease of interpretation. Moreover, on a historical basis, an inertial frame was adopted by Newton in Principia to explain tides. Thus, the description used in astronomy is consistent with Newton's original approach. We also present various astrophysical tides which do not comply with the concept of centrifugal force in general. We therefore argue that the description used in oceanography should be compensated by that in astronomy, due to its complexity, historical inconsistency and limited applicability.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.39-43
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• 2015

We overview and discuss the IAU today from the viewpoint of its regions based on historical and statistical data, and consider the status and future of astronomy in the Asian-Pacific region. New activities of the IAU, the Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD) and the Office for Astronomy Outreach (OAO) for the future evolution of astronomy are introduced. We also review the recent developments in astronomy in the Asian-Pacific region, and emphasize the importance of regional cooperation and coordination for the future.

• Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.19-27
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• 2020

We have investigated the North Korean astronomical articles published in five media such as the Rodong Sinmun (노동신문), Minju Choson (민주조선), Tongil Sinbo (통일신보), Munhak Sinmun (문학신 문), and Choson Sinbo (조선신보) for 15 years from 2005 to 2019. The astronomical articles were classified by subject to study the astronomical activity in North Korea. We have examined the perceptions of astronomy in North Korean society through the temporal variation of astronomical articles according to four subjects. As a result, we have found that there are many articles in the subject of Historical Astronomy and Astronomical News in the media. In the era of Kim Jong-un, the articles on the Historical Astronomy decreased while the Astronomy news tended to increase. We have also summarized the specific issues and topics including the change of the standard meridian, launch of satellites, astronomical news, and so forth. The North Korean astronomical article is a valuable resource to examine the current status of North Korea's astronomy and astronomical education. We expect the results of this study to be a useful resource in preparing for inter-Korean astronomical cooperation.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.85-91
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• 2012

Astronomical data making such as forming a calendar, period of day, determining the time of rising/setting of the sun and the onset of twilight are essential in our daily lives. Knowing the calendar day of the past is particularly crucial for studying the history of a clan or a nation. To verify previous studies in the calendar day of the Joseon dynasty (1392 - 1910), we investigate the sexagenary cycle of the new moon day (i.e., the first day in a lunar month) by using sources such as results of the calculations using the Datong calendar (a Chinese Calendar of the Ming Dynasty) and the data of Baekjungryeok (a Perpetual Calendar; literally, a one hundred-year almanac). Compared with the study of Ahn et al., we find that as many as 17 sexagenary cycles show discrepancies. In the cases of nine discrepancies, we find that the sexagenary cycles of this study are identical to those of the almanacs at that time. In addition, we study five sexagenary cycles by using the historical accounts of Joseon Wangjo Sillok (Annals of the Joseon Dynasty), Seungjeongwon Ilgi (Daily Reports of Royal Secretariat), Chungung Ilgi (Logs of Crown Prince), and so forth. For the remaining discrepancies, we present historical literature supporting the results of this study. This study will greatly contribute to the identification of the lunisolar calendar days during the Joseon dynasty as the dates of the modern (i.e., Gregorian) calendar.

• 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).

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.49.3-50
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• 2018

Korea has kept its records of astronomical phenomena since around 2,000 years ago. However, the contents and scope of relevant service have been limited for researchers who need those records due to lack of complete data collection. In this regard, it is necessary to establish efficient collection and management systems of Korean astronomical records by utilizing an environment that is easily accessible. This study is intended to complete the development of a testbed system that allows researchers to systematically input and validate, in a Web environment, multiple astronomical records among the historical documents until Modern Joseon after the Three Kingdoms Period. Recognition of the pre-translated data and tables in advance is followed by its storage in the database built on the Web. Then, data validation is implemented by providing a retrieval service according to a specific form to only a finite number of researchers who have access authority. This study is targeted at a testbed system that takes around three months to be completely developed. The completed testbed system is expected to allow internal and external researchers of an organization to easily access the service on the Web. This will ensure that the accuracy of the data can be verified mutually and help identify areas of service improvement. The opinions collected regarding service improvement will be reflected in the future system. Eventually, domestic astronomical records will subsequently be able to be utilized internationally through the multilingual service.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.spc1
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• pp.155-161
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• 2003

In this article I review the past and current status of solar astronomy in Korea and present some future prospects. Along with a brief historical account on the introduction of modern astronomy to Korea, I describe in detail how solar astronomy in Korea has developed since its birth about 20 years ago. With education of solar astronomers at domestic universities and collaboration with foreign scientists in China, Japan and the U. S., there has been a rapid growth of solar physics in Korea in the past decade. For further advance of solar astronomy in Korea, Korean solar astronomers have to build their own observing facilities and develop instrumentation programs. Also it is very important to bring up manpower competent for these projects.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.199-211
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• 2019

This paper presents at the characteristics of publications in the Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences from 1984 to 2018. Since its first publication, a total of 1,113 papers (~35 volumes) have been published up to December 2018. While the space astronomy field has made up a large portion of the total number of papers, the number of annually published papers in this field is decreasing. In contrast, the number of papers in the space environment field has been showing an increasing trend since 2013, accounting for more than 30% of the annual publications. The participation rate of foreign researchers has been maintained at greater than 20% since 2012. Despite the decrease in the number of paper per year, there are positive developments including sustained foreign researcher participation at greater than 20% and improvements in the impact factor. We believe that JASS has the potential to enter the distinguished level of international academic journals following a well-developed future road map.