Astronomical function and date of the Taosi observatory

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	Astronomical function and date of the Taosi observatory
	LIU CiYuan
刊名	SCIENCE IN CHINA SERIES G-PHYSICS MECHANICS & ASTRONOMY
	2009
卷号	52 期号:1 页码:151-158
关键词	astro-archeology astro-chronology Taosi culture ancient observatory
ISSN号	1672-1799
英文摘要	The Taosi site in Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province, may be the capital of the King Yao. Archeologists recently discovered a large semi-circular stamped-earth platform, II FJT1, which has a clear and definite pounded-earth central core together with a curved wall perforated by twelve gaps. The platform is said to be an ancient observatory used to determine the seasons by watching the sunrise. Each feature of II FJT1 was precisely measured and the data are reproduced in this paper. An astronomical analysis of slots E2 and E12 was carried out using the azimuths of the slots' centerlines and the vertical angle of the mountain ridge opposite, above which the sun rises. The results show that at present the sun is close to the two slots but does not exactly enter them at summer and winter solstice sunrise. Using 14C analysis archeologists dated the site to about 2100 BC. Because of the secular change in the obliquity of the ecliptic, at that date on the summer solstice the half-risen sun would have appeared inside slot E12 just to the right of the centerline, and on the winter solstice the sun would have been exactly on the centerline of slot E2. This result provides compelling proof that II FJT1 is an ancient observatory.
收录类别	SCI
语种	英语
公开日期	2012-09-05
内容类型	期刊论文
源URL	[http://210.72.145.45/handle/361003/4770]
专题	国家授时中心_授时方法与技术研究室
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	LIU CiYuan. Astronomical function and date of the Taosi observatory[J]. SCIENCE IN CHINA SERIES G-PHYSICS MECHANICS & ASTRONOMY,2009,52(1):151-158.
APA	LIU CiYuan.(2009).Astronomical function and date of the Taosi observatory.SCIENCE IN CHINA SERIES G-PHYSICS MECHANICS & ASTRONOMY,52(1),151-158.
MLA	LIU CiYuan."Astronomical function and date of the Taosi observatory".SCIENCE IN CHINA SERIES G-PHYSICS MECHANICS & ASTRONOMY 52.1(2009):151-158.