‘Nam Byeong-cheol Crater’ named after Joseon astronomer

A crater on the moon will be named after a Korean for the first time. According to the Danuri Magnetic Field Payload Research Team of Kyung Hee University's Department of Space Exploration on Monday, a crater on the far side of the moon showing unusual magnetic field characteristics was named after Nam Byeong-cheol, an astronomer and mathematician from the Joseon Dynasty. The names of lunar craters are selected by the International Astronomical Union upon applications from research teams by country. After the final review of the application by the Kyung Hee University research team, the crater officially became the ‘Nam Byeong-cheol Crater’ last Wednesday.

The research team is studying the magnetic field on the moon's surface with Danuri, Korea's first lunar orbiter. The Nam Byeong-cheol crater was one of several craters used to study magnetic field changes on the lunar surface. After learning that this crater did not yet have a name, the research team consulted with Ian Garrick Wessel, a professor of Planetary Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who was co-researching the crater and applied for the name.

To name a crater, data is needed to prove the scientific meaning of the crater and that the name comes from a scientist. The Nam Byeong-cheol Crater is a unique crater with different magnetic fields inside and outside the crater.

In 2021, before the crater was named, research on the crater was published in Nature, the international science journal. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who published the paper at the time, estimated that an iron-rich meteorite with a diameter of 100 km flew diagonally onto the lunar surface and crashed into it, claiming that the iron content in the meteorite created a strong magnetic field.

Nam Byeong-cheol was an astronomer in the late Joseon Dynasty and is known to have developed the ‘Nam Byeong-cheol armillary sphere.’ An armillary sphere is a device that reproduces the movements of the earth, sun, and moon and measures their positions. Nam Byeong-cheol's armillary sphere is an updated version of the traditional armillary sphere, improved for easy observation. The Kyung Hee University research team ultimately proposed the name Nam Byeong-cheol Crater after consultation and recommendations from the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute's High Astronomy Research Center.

“We expect to continue new research with orbiter Danuri making further observations of the Nambyeongcheol Crater during its mission,” said the research team.


최지원 기자 jwchoi@donga.com