Ed
  Stars in the sky have always been mysterious to human beings. People can't reach the stars despite being able to see them. Since ancient times, people have been fascinated by the stars and have started to observe them. They expressed their interest about the stars through giving names to the stars, creating constellations and writing poems while looking at stars. Stars' mystique still continues despite development of high scientific techniques. Astronomical observation is carried out to explore for the origin of stars' mystique.
 
History
  Astronomical observation has been carried out around the world since ancient times. There are a lot of ruins and relics, which were used to observe stars in the ancient times in Greece, India and even Peru, where the Incan Civilization existed. Ancient people discovered mechanisms of planetary motion using those ruins and relics and established a calendar. Using the established calendar, they predicted weather and set the time for farming and moving with livestock. In the case of the ancient countries of Korea, there were no differences with other ancient countries.
 
Observatory
  Chumsungdae was the first observatory of Korea built in the Silla dynasty. The significance of the Chumsungdae was that it was also the first in the Orient. In the Silla dynasty, the observatory observed celestial bodies for telling the country’s fortunes and making a calendar.
  In modern times, observatories for research study the formation of the Milky Way, open clusters of stars, fixed stars and quasars. Secondly, observatories used by the public are used to observe celestial bodies. Moreover, the observatories for the public provide knowledge of celestial bodies, auroras, changes in the status of our moon, the revolutions of stars and solar systems. The observatories also hold concerts and poetry readings.
  In Korea, a representative observatory for the citizens is the Daejeon Observatory. This observatory provides opportunities to observe the sky and broadens cultural experiences. Shin Jeong-min(Daejeon Observatory, Manager) said about the Daejeon Observatory, “A diversity of people have visited the place to observe the celestial bodies. The main spectators are units of families and schools. That is why the place is located in the middle of Daejeon, so citizens can easily visit the place. Besides this point, Daejeon citizens have interest in concerts and poetry readings. Amateurs have various concerts, so citizens also like to visit the observatory.”
 
As an amateur astronomer
  There is another way to observe stars beside an observatory. Any people who have telescopes can observe stars anywhere. People who take pictures of stars in the sky as a hobby are called amateur astronomers. They sometimes contribute to discover asteroids and comets better than real astronomers.
  Hong Jin-woong(’10, School of Civil Engineering), who is a president of the club Han-Byul, which is an amateur astronomical observation club of Chungbuk National University, said, “When I observe stars in the sky, I really feel great. Although I am not an astronomer, I can get my good observation results through this activity. Also, common amateur astronomers observe stars alone for a long time at night, but there are many members in my club, so we talk to each other during observation time. We don’t worry about loneliness when we observe stars.”
  He added, “An astronomical telescope is so expensive, so it is burdensome for students to buy one. In my club, we bought a secondhand telescope or received it from club seniors. For reference, we mainly receive information about astronomical phenomena from seniors who work in the observatory.” Amateur astronomers or common people who are interested in astronomical observation can receive help from Korea Amateur Astronomical Society(KAAS) when they want to observe stars with people. In the KAAS, people can get information and help about astronomical phenomena, observation devices and ways to observe stars.
 
Must know information
  In 2014, we may observe beautiful phenomena of celestial bodies. The Ison comet will be observable during December. This comet is said to be the best of the best in this century. This comet only appears once every 76 years. The Ison comet is a sungrazing comet because it approaches close to the sun. Next March, the Holmes comet will be observed. Its size is 70% of the sun. The atmosphere of Holmes was bigger than the sun’s when the comet exploded on Dec 9th, 2007. The Linear comet will be able to be seen next May. However, it will not be easy to observe using normal telescopes because of darkness. On August 10th , the moon will be closest to the Earth, within 259,896km, so we can see a bigger moon than usual.
 
Epilogue
  In the rapidly changing and developing world today, we are missing the cosmos and so many stars in the cosmos. If we give ourselves some relaxation for a few minutes to look at the stars in the sky, won’t our lives become more abundant?
 

By Kang Ill-gu l ig33@cbnu.ac.k

By Gwak Han-sin l hs34@cbnu.ac.kr