The ‘Astronomer Nam Byeong-cheol’ model restored by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute. / Provided by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute.
The Joseon Dynasty cultural heritage ‘Nam Byeong-cheol’s Armillary Fist’, which had been passed down only in literature, has been restored. An armillary sphere is a device that reproduces the movements of various celestial bodies, such as the Earth, the sun, and the moon, and measures their positions.
The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute announced on the 29th that it had succeeded in producing a restoration model of Nam Byeong-cheol’s armillary sphere, an astronomical heritage of the late Joseon Dynasty. Nam Byeong-cheol’s armillary sphere is a complement and improvement of the existing armillary sphere, and is a celestial observation instrument that was used before moving to modern astronomy. It is recorded in the ‘Honcheonui’ section of ‘Uigijipseol (儀器輯說)’ written by Nam Byeong-cheol (南秉哲, 1817-1863), an astronomer in the late Joseon Dynasty.
Nam Byeong-cheol’s armillary sphere has the function of adjusting the altitude of the North Pole, which is the standard for observation, so it is possible to observe celestial bodies while moving from place to place. The existing armillary sphere could no longer be changed once the North Pole altitude was installed to suit the observation location.
In addition, while the existing armillary sphere had a fixed rotation axis, allowing only specific observations, Nam Byeong-cheol’s armillary sphere has a ring installed, allowing the observation of various celestial bodies by moving the axis. In addition to measuring altitude and direction, you can obtain various information such as ecliptic longitude, latitude, right ascension, and declination. Nam Byeong-cheol further expanded the function of the armillary sphere to enable observation of celestial bodies appropriate for the situation by connecting the rotation axis of the innermost ring (private sphere) with the three axes, the positive axis, the polar axis, and the zenith axis, in the second inner ring (representative sphere). It is known.
The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute began research on Nam Byeong-cheol’s armillary sphere about 20 years ago, led by senior researcher Kim Sang-hyuk. The full-scale restoration has been carried out in 2022 by forming a research team including Senior Researcher Min Byeong-hee of the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute and Researcher Nam Gyeong-wook of the Gwacheon National Science Museum. The research team retranslated the contents of ‘Euigijipseol’ from a scientific and technological perspective and proceeded with the basic design. Afterwards, we collaborated with the Chungbuk Pro Maker Center and a professional production organization to successfully reproduce Nam Byeong-cheol’s model.
The restored Nam Byeong-cheol armillary sphere will be on special exhibition at the Gwacheon National Science Museum in the second half of this year.
2024-02-29 01:38:27
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