| Indian Astronomy |
Article Index for Indian |
Website Links For Indian |
Information AboutIndian Astronomy |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT INDIAN ASTRONOMY | |
| hindu astronomy | |
| archaeoastronomy | |
| ancient astronomy | |
| history of astronomy | |
| history of astrology | |
|
Indian astronomy refers to the study of Astronomy in the Indian Subcontinent , which began during the Vedic Period , followed by remnants of 18 or 19 traditional Siddhanta s or astronomical theories which are mentioned in various ancient texts. Only a few of these ancient siddhāntas can be adequately reconstructed and some of them might have been vitiated by later interpolators. The first named authors writing treatises on astronomy emerge from the 5th century, the date when the classical period of Indian astronomy can be said to begin. Besides the theories of Aryabhata in the '' Aryabhatiya '' and the lost ''Arya-siddhānta'', we find the ''Panch-Siddhāntika'' of Varahamihira which mentions some siddhāntas in detail. From this time on, we find a predominance of Geocentric Model s, and possibly Heliocentric models, in Indian astronomy, in contrast to the Merucentric astronomy of Puranic , Jaina and Buddhist traditions whose actual Mathematics has been largely lost and only fabulous accounts remain. The astronomy and the Astrology of Ancient India ( Jyotisha ) is based upon Sidereal calculations, although a Tropical system was also used in a few cases. For example, Uttarayana (Uttarāyana उत्तरायण) was determined according to a tropical system in the '' Mahabharata '', or by Lagadha in the '' Vedanga Jyotisha ''. But even then, sidereal astronomy was the mainstay. Now, even Uttarāyana is determined according to the sidereal system of Hindu s. The sidereal astronomy is based upon the Star s and the sidereal period is the time that it takes the object to make one full orbit around the Sun, relative to the stars. This is considered to be an object's true orbital period. COORDINATE SYSTEM In Hindu Astronomy, the is the Uttarabhadra. In the time of the Puranas, the vernal equinox was marked by the Ashwini Constellation (beginning of Aries), which gives a date of about 300-500 CE. The Vishnu Purana (2.8.63) states that the equinoxes occur when the Sun enters Aries] and Libra , and that when the sun enters Capricorn , his northern course (from winter to summer Solstice ) commences, and the southern course when he enters Cancer .The Brahmanas place the Equinox in Krittika (Pleidas) and the Rig Veda in Mrigasira (Orion). These would indicate a time of around 1900 BCE and 4000 BCE, respectively. In the Surya Siddhanta , the rate of Precession is set at 54" (it actually is 50.3"), which is much more accurate than the number calculated by the Greeks .(Frawley 1991:148) The Hindus use a system of 27 or 28 Nakshatra s ( Lunar Constellations ) to calculate a Month . Each month can be divided into 30 lunar Tithi s (days). There are usually 360 or 366 days in a year. It has been argued that Nilakantha Somayaji's (1444-1550) work shows a better equation of the center for Mercury and Venus "than was available either in the earlier Indian works or in the Islamic or European traditions of astronomy till the work of Kepler, which was to come more than a hundred years later."Ramasubramanian et al. 1994, cited in Subhash Kak. Birth and Early Development of Indian Astronomy. In Astronomy across cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Helaine Selin (ed), Kluwer, 2000 PHILOSOPHICAL DISCUSSIONS Heliocentrism The earliest traces of a (c. 9th – 8th Century BC ) recognized that the Earth is spherical and believed that the Sun was "''the centre of the spheres''" as described in the '' Vedas '' at the time. In his astronomical text '' Shatapatha Brahmana '', he states: He recognized that the Sun was much larger than the Earth, which would have influenced this early heliocentric concept. He also accurately measured the relative distances of the Sun and the Moon from the Earth as 108 times the diameters of these heavenly bodies, close to the modern measurements of 107.6 for the Sun and 110.6 for the Moon. He also described an accurate Solar Calendar in the ''Shatapatha Brahmana''.Joseph (2000). The '' Aitareya Brahmana '' (c. 9th–8th century BC) also states: Some interpret this to mean that the Sun is stationary, hence the Earth is moving around it, though others are less clear about the meanings of the terms. This would be elaborated in a later commentary '' Vishnu Purana '' (c. 1st century BC), which states: Dick Teresi writes in ''Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science'': Gravitation , New York, ISBN 0-684-83718-8: Kanada , founder of the Vaisheshika school, attempted to explain gravity: Brahmagupta , in his '' Brahmasphuta Siddhanta '' ("''The Opening of the Universe''") ( 628 ), recognized gravity as a force of attraction. Brahmagupta followed the Heliocentric Solar System of gravitation, earlier developed by Aryabhata in 499, and understood that there was a force of attraction between the Sun and the Earth. The 11th century Muslim astronomer Abu Al-Rayhan Al-Biruni , in his ''Ta'rikh al-Hind'', later translated into Latin as ''Indica'', commented on their works and wrote that critics refuting Aryabhata's heliocentric system argued:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| {{quote"On The Contrary, If That Were The Case, The Earth Would Not Vie In Keeping An Even And Uniform Pace With The Minutes Of Heaven, The | "http://wwwinformationdelightinfo/information/entry/prana" class="copylinks">Prana s of the times All heavy things are attracted towards the center of the earth [ The earth on all its sides is the same all people on earth stand upright, and all heavy things fall down to the earth by a law of nature, for it is the nature of the earth to attract and to keep things, as it is the nature of water to flow, that of fire to burn, and that of wind to set in motion… The earth is the only low thing, and seeds always return to it, in whatever direction you may throw them away, and never rise upwards from the earth" |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|