Article ID: CBB448966880

Constraining the Period of the Origin of the Indian Lunar Mansions (2023)

unapi

Indian Lunar Mansions, known as nakshatra, have been fundamental to Vedic calendrical systems. There have been some attempts to determine an epoch, when these asterisms were first defined, based on subjective interpretations of positions of cardinal points at the epoch of definition. However, these attempts have mostly had a limited scope of investigation. We attempt to address the question of epoch of definition using another approach. We assume that the choice of a particular principal star for each lunar mansion was the best possible choice for each corresponding ecliptic longitude zone and we employ precessional calculations to show for which periods in history this particular assumption holds true. Our analysis shows the period of designation of nakshatras to be around 2400 BCE. Visual analysis of sky plots around 2400 BCE further provides corroborating arguments in support of this date. The method is also useful in disambiguation of certain nakshatra definitions.

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB448966880/

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Authors & Contributors
Baylis, Joshua T.
Brack-Bernsen, Lis
Britton, John P.
Clarke, A. J. M.
Commandino, Federico
Couprie, Dirk L.
Journals
Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry
Journal for the History of Astronomy
Archive for History of Exact Sciences
Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences
Centaurus: International Magazine of the History of Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
Publishers
Archaeopress
Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Cádiz
Concepts
Moon
Celestial mechanics
Astronomical chronology
Astronomy
Calendars
Sun
People
Aristarchos of Samos
Brahe, Tycho
Liu Hong
Philolaus of Croton
Ptolemy
Time Periods
Ancient
Medieval
3rd century
Bronze age
Han dynasty (China, 202 B.C.-220 A.D.)
Ming dynasty (China, 1368-1644)
Places
Mesopotamia
Greece
China
Middle and Near East
India
Egypt
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