Meanwhile : Astronomy and the order of power

The author is a principal researcher at the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute.
"There is a high probability of a new planet near this coordinate."
This line comes from an 1846 letter written by French astronomer and mathematician Urbain Le Verrier. Upon reading it, German astronomer Johann Galle located Neptune, dealing a blow to Britain's scientific pride at a time when three countries were fiercely competing to discover new planets. British astronomer and mathematician John Couch Adams had reached the same conclusion months earlier, yet failed to secure the discovery. Bureaucratic inertia cost him the prize.

Seventy-three years later, wartime Britain approved an expedition led by Arthur Eddington, who was subject to conscription, to observe a solar eclipse in Africa. The mission confirmed the general theory of relativity proposed by German scientist Albert Einstein. Even in the midst of war, Britain preserved its scientific standing by validating the work of an enemy nation's physicist.
In April 2008, Kang Young-woon, then the president of the Korean Astronomical Society, shared a striking anecdote. "I attended the centennial celebration of the Astronomical Society of Japan," he said. During the event, participants began discussing the founding years of their respective societies. The Royal Astronomical Society in Britain was established in 1820, followed by Germany and Canada, with France, the United States, Japan and Italy joining later. "That's when we realized — it was essentially the Group of 7 [G7]," he recalled.
The G7, which now leads the global order, had already recognized the strategic value of astronomy one to two centuries ago. As King Charles II once noted, accurate navigation allowed these nations to establish rules governing global sea routes and supply lines. They went on to standardize time and effectively create an analog form of GPS, enabling faster and safer maritime travel for both naval and commercial fleets.
Telescopes, once used to observe the stars, evolved into instruments for detecting enemy ships, while orbital mechanics gave rise to ballistics. These advances ultimately paved the way for the era of space navigation. Companies such as Nikon and Canon, which once manufactured naval targeting optics, later contributed to building the 8.2-meter Subaru Telescope and its Hyper Suprime-Cam.
The Korean Astronomical Society was founded on the vernal equinox in 1965. Astronomers today use more than 300 quasars — luminous objects located some 8 billion light-years away — as reference points, and even military GPS systems rely on such calibrations. It is a somber spring, as the achievements of astronomy continue to find their way into warfare.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.