This work addresses the development of the astronomical observatory all through history, from an architectural point of view, as a building in relation to the observing instruments and their functioning as a heterogeneous work center. We focused on 32 observatories (in the period 1259–2007) and carefully analyzed the architectures. Considering the impact of the construction itself or its facilities on the results of the research (thermal or structural stability, poor weather protection, turbulence, etc.), there is little attention paid to theories or studies of the architectural or construction aspects of the observatories. Therefore, this work aims to present a theoretical-critical contribution that, at least, invites the reflection of those involved in the development of astronomical observatories in the future.

This paper presents an overview of the large international projects in which the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan is involved, namely, the Subaru Telescope, Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, and the Thirty Meter Telescope. The last section provides a brief historical view of the international collaboration in East Asia regions over the last 20 years.

In the beginning of the Joseon dynasty, the Royal Astronomical Bureau (觀象監, shortly RAB) was established. After the double RAB had settled down by King Sejong (世宗), it continued to function until 1907. Before the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592, the Joseon court had the Inner RAB in the Gyeongbok Palace (景福宮) and the Outer RAB in the Northen District Gwangwha-Bang (北部廣化坊) at the western side of the Changdeuk Palace (昌德宮). In the reign of King Sukjong (肅宗) the double system of the RAB was transformed into the Geumho-Gate (金虎門) Outer RAB and the Gaeyang-Gate (開陽門) Outer RAB. During the reconstruction of the Gyeongbok Palace in the early reign of King Gojong (高宗), the Gaeyang-Gate Outer RAB was replaced by the Yeongchu-Gate (迎秋門) Outer RAB in 1865. All RAB had the Royal Astronomical Observatory (觀天臺, RAO hereinafter), so called the Soganui-platform (小簡儀臺) on which the Soganui (小簡儀) has been put. The Soganui (小簡儀) is a small simplified armillary sphere. While the Gwangwha-Bang RAO handed down from the reign of King Sejong still exists, other RAOs, such as Gyeongbok Palace RAO, Gaeyang-Gate and Yeongchu-Gate RAOs, do not remain. According to our study, the Changgyeong Palace (昌慶宮) RAO was not indeed the RAO with the Soganui.

Observation of standard stars is of crucial importance in stellar photometry. We have studied the standard transformation relations of the UBV RI CCD photometric system at the Maidanak Astronomical Observatory in Uzbekistan. All observations were made with the AZT-22 1.5m telescope, SITe 2k CCD or Fairchild 486 CCD, and standard Bessell UBV RI filters from 2003 August to 2007 September. We observed many standard stars around the celestial equator observed by SAAO astronomers. The atmospheric extinction coefficients, photometric zero points, and time variation of photometric zero points of each night were determined. Secondary extinction coefficients and photometric zero points were very stable, while primary extinction coefficients showed a distinct seasonal variation. We also determined the transformation coefficients for each filter. For B, V , R, and I filters, the transformation to the SAAO standard system could be achieved with a straight line or a combination of two straight lines. However, in the case of the U filter and Fairchild 486 CCD combination, a significant non-linear correction term - related to the size of Balmer jump or the strength of the Balmer lines - of up to 0:08 mags was required. We found that our data matched well the SAAO photometry in V , B - V , V - I, and R - I. But in U - B, the difference in zero point was about 3:6 mmag and the scatter was about 0:02 mag. We attribute the relatively large scatter in U -B to the larger error in U of the SAAO photometry. We confirm the mostly small differences between the SAAO standard UBV RI system and the Landolt standard system. We also attempted to interpret the seasonal variation of the atmospheric extinction coefficients in the context of scattering sources in the earth’s atmosphere.

한국과학영재학교 천지인 천문대의 천문학적 시상 패턴에 관한 연구를 수행하였다. 관측지의 시상 상황을 결정하기 위해서는 그 관측지에서 시상을 측정하여 데이터를 얻는 것이 가장 중요함에도 불구하고, 부산 지역에서 시상에 관한 체계적인 측정이 이루어지지 못하였다. 이러한 이유에서 본 천문대에서는 2008년 5월부터 SBIG사의 시상 모니터를 도입, 매일 시간별 시상을 꾸준히 측정하고 있다. 시상 측정은 CCD로 직접 천체 이미지를 촬영하여 FWHM지수를 추정하는 방식으로 이루어진다. 우리는 지난 8개월 동안 시상 모니터를 운영하면서 얻어진 한국과학영재학교 천지인 천문대에서의 시상 자료를 바탕으로 KSA SEMO에서의 시상 패턴을 'Sunset/sunrise Effect', 'Extreme Fluctuation', 'Sudden Increment', 'Daily Variation', 'Stable Condition' 등으로 분류하였다. 시상은 전반적으로 오전 1시에서 3시까지가 다른 시간대에 비하여 좋은 것으로 나타났으며, 여름의 시상이 겨울보다 좋았다.

Understanding of the basic characteristics of an astronomical instrument is a prerequisite to obtaining reliable data from the instrument. We have analyzed more than 1,000 calibration images from the Fairchild 486 CCD (hereafter the Maidanak 4k CCD system) attached to the AZT-22 1.5m telescope at Maidanak Astronomical Observatory in Uzbekistan. The Maidanak 4k CCD system supports three readout modes through 1, 2, or 4 amplifiers. In most cases observers use 4-amplifier readout mode to save time. We have tested the stability and seasonal variation of zero levels and confirm that two quadrants of the images (Amp 1 & 2) show no appreciable seasonal variation. but the other two quadrants (Amp 3 & Amp 4) show an evident seasonal variation in the bias level. The Cryo Tiger, the cooling system used at the Maidanak 4k CCD system, maintains the CCD temperature at -108'E, and effectively suppresses the dark electrons. The mean value versus the variance plot of the flat images does not show the expected relation for an ideal Poisson noise distribution and this is attributed to the large variation in quantum efficiency between different pixels. In addition, we confirm that there is no appreciable difference in gain between readout amplifiers, but there is a large variation in quantum efficiency across CCD chip especially in U. Due to the finite length of shutter opening and closing time, the effective exposure time varies across the science images. We introduce two parameters to quantify the effect of this uneven illumination and present a method to remove these effects. We also present a method to remove the interference patterns appearing in the images obtained with longer wavelength filters and investigate the spatial variation of the point spread function.

Construction of the Virtual Observatory (VO) is a great concern to the astronomical community in the 21st century. We present an outline of the concept and necessity of the va and the current status of various VO projects including the 15 national ones and the International Virtual Observatory Alliance (IVOA). We summarize the possible science cases that could be solved by using the VO data/tools, real science cases which are the results of using current VO tools, and our own work of using AstroGrid, the United Kingdom national VO, for a research on star formation history of galaxies.