ANALYSIS OF THE KOREAN CELESTIAL PLANISPHERE: CH'ON-SANG-YUL-CHA-BUN-YA-JI-DO

We have analyzed the content of the Korean stone star chart. Ch'on-Sang-Yul-Cha-Bun-Ya-Ji-Do(here-after Ch'on-Sang-Do). In the star map we have found 1468 stars, 4 more than the Chinese star catalog Bo-Chun-Ga. The four extra stars form a constellation, Jong Dae Boo. The map projection law used in the star chart is found to be the polar equtorial and equidistance projection. The linear distance of an object on Ch'on-Sang-Do from the center is linearly proportional to the north polar angular distance. We have found from a statistical analysis that most stars with declination lower than 50 are at positions representing the epoch of around the first century. On the other hand, stars near the north pole with declination higher than 50 are at the epoch of about 1300, which is close to the time the chart was engraved. This implies that the original Ko-Gu-Rye Dynasty's star chart has been revised by astronomers of Cho-Sun Dynasty. We have also shown that stars on Ch'on-Sang-Do are engraved in such a way that their area is linearly proportional to the visual magnitude.