Capricorn and Dhanus and Makara Sankranti and Sagittarius and Samkranti and Sankranti and Uttarayana and gurudev and hitxp and winter solstice 10:05 am
This article has been moved to http://www.hitxp.com/in/15012008.htm
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January 16, 2008 at 2:25 am |
Nice article Gurudev, most of those who know the sunrise and sunset times must have observed that 21st december is indeed the shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere.
But I was disappointed about your last statements about astrological calculations. Astrology DOES very much consider precession of earth’s axis. Please pick up any astrological software and compare it with any planetarium software by inputting dates of 5000 BC. Both show Sun in Aries during January, which means astrology DOES indeed take into account the precession. Please also verify any other date and any other planet.
The only slight difference comes in when planets are at boundaries of constellations, that’s because the boundaries in planetarium softwares are man made (International Astronomical Union in 1930 set the boundaries), hence I had previously said in my posts related to Birth Date of Rama that we should NOT consider these planetarium softwares as their constellation boundaries are man made. As far as I know Valmiki was not a member of the IAU nor did he have a telescope, hence when he said Saturn was in Libra he meant this according to astrological calculations, and hence trying to look out for Saturn in Libra in planetarium softwares is nothing but foolishness, especially when Saturn is in the boundary between Libra and Scorpio.
I hope you will correct your last para
January 16, 2008 at 4:48 am |
Pretty good informations….
I understood the difference just now.
January 16, 2008 at 10:36 am |
Guru, please check this exp. given by
Piyush Pandey, Director, Nehru Planetarium, Mumbai
—–
People have been phoning me and asking why Makar Sankranti is going to be celebrated this year on January 15 instead of the usual 14th.
I trust you may like to share this explanation with your readers. Here goes the explanation. The shifts of solar festival dates are a manifestation of the precessional motion (paranchan gati) of the earth.
The spin axis of the earth takes about 26,000 years to gyrate once on its axis. (As a result of this, various stars get the chance of becoming our North Pole Stars. The present star Dhruvtara or Polaris will be replaced by Vega (Abhijit) in 14,000 AD).
Translated into one year, this seems like a very small motion: just 50 seconds of arc per year, which means 50/3600 or 1/72 degrees.
This means that in about 72 years, the socalled reference point or ‘fixed point’ in the sky would have shifted westward by one degree.
Every day, the sun appears to move in the sky by one degree eastward from its previous position with respect to distant stars. (This is a consequence of the annual motion of the earth around the sun). Thus, in 72 years, any phenomenon that uses the sun’s position in the sky as a criterion will advance by one day.
Since I am not a religiously inclined person, I do not know exactly how they decide the date. But it is certain that in a period of approximately 72 years, that date should advance by one count.
If I were asked to choose the date of Makar Sankranti I would celebrate it on 21st January — for on this day the sun enters the zodiacal constellation of Capricornus. But people define their ‘zodiac’ in different ways.
Astronomers define it using the actual star positions while others, particularly astrologers who follow the Nirayana System use an earlier epoch, when the sun’s entry into Makar (Capricornus) coincided with the Winter Solstice (or the Uttarayan, the sun’s northward journey in the sky, the beginning of longer daylight periods).
The sun enters a new sign of the zodiac every month. This also explains why out of the 12 Sankrantis (one every month) only the Makar Sankranti was given special significance. Historically, Makar Sankranti was a festival of the people of the northern hemisphere.
Piyush Pandey, Director, Nehru Planetarium, Mumbai
——————–
January 17, 2008 at 3:48 pm |
Vijay
I said, “most”, not “all”.. I said this after I saw few astrological websites which showed wrong dates of sun entering capricorn etc!
Thanks Arun!
Thanks for the information SK, yes the number 72 years is correct, its about the precession of earth’s axis, so to come one complete circle around the year, it takes 72×365 which is about 26000 years, the time taken for one complete cycle of precession!