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The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Also within this zodiac belt appear the Moon and the brightest planets, along the their orbital planes. The zodiac is divided along the ecliptic into 12 equal parts ("signs"), each occupying 30° of celestial longitude. These signs roughly correspond to the astronomical constellations with the following modern names: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
Traditional Chinese astronomy has a system of dividing the celestial sphere into asterisms or constellations, known as "officials".
A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar. The main other types of calendar are lunar calendar and lunisolar calendar, whose months correspond to cycles of Moon phases. The months of the Gregorian calendar do not correspond to cycles of the Moon phase.
Hindu astrology, also called Indian astrology, or Jyotisha ; from jyót "light, heavenly body", and more recently Vedic astrology, is the traditional Hindu system of astrology. It is one of the six auxiliary disciplines in Hinduism that is connected with the study of the Vedas.
The Hindu calendar, also called Panchanga, is one of various lunisolar calendars that are traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, with further regional variations for social and Hindu religious purposes. They adopt a similar underlying concept for timekeeping based on sidereal year for solar cycle and adjustment of lunar cycles in every three years, but differ in their relative emphasis to moon cycle or the sun cycle and the names of months and when they consider the New Year to start. Of the various regional calendars, the most studied and known Hindu calendars are the Shalivahana Shaka found in the Deccan region of Southern India and the Vikram Samvat (Bikrami) found in Nepal and the North and Central regions of India – both of which emphasize the lunar cycle. Their new year starts in spring. In regions such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the solar cycle is emphasized and this is called the Tamil calendar and Malayalam calendar and these have origins in the second half of the 1st millennium CE. A Hindu calendar is sometimes referred to as Panchangam (पञ्चाङ्गम्), which is also known as Panjika in Eastern India.
In astrology, sidereal and tropical are terms that refer to two different systems of ecliptic coordinates used to divide the ecliptic into twelve "signs". Each sign is divided into 30 degrees, making a total of 360 degrees. The terms sidereal and tropical may also refer to two different definitions of a year, applied in sidereal solar calendars or tropical solar calendars.
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The star cluster Kṛttikā Sanskrit: कृत्तिका, pronounced, popularly transliterated Krittika), sometimes known as Kārtikā, corresponds to the open star cluster called Pleiades in western astronomy; it is one of the clusters which makes up the constellation Taurus. In Indian astronomy and Jyotiṣa the name literally translates to "the cutters". It is also the name of its goddess-personification, who is a daughter of Daksha and Panchajani, and thus a half-sister to Khyati. Spouse of Kṛttikā is Chandra ("moon"). The six Krittikas who raised the Hindu God Kartikeya are Śiva, Sambhūti, Prīti, Sannati, Anasūya and Kṣamā.
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In astrology, certain stars are considered significant. Historically, all of the various heavenly bodies considered by astrologers were considered "stars", whether they were stars, planets, other stellar phenomena like novas and supernovas, or other solar system phenomena like comets and meteors.
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Uttara Ashadha, also known as Uthiradam/Uthradam in Tamil and Malayalam, is the twenty-first of the 27 Nakshatra (constellations) in Hindu astrology. It is situated on the lower part of Lyra and spans from 26°40" in Sagittarius to 10°00" in Capricorn in the sidereal Vedic zodiac.
The theory of synoptical astrology was created by László Wladimir Orosz, Hungarian philosopher and astrologer.
References
- ↑ Weinstock, S. (1949). "Lunar mansions and early calendars". Journal of Hellenic Studies. LXIX: cf;
also CCAG IX.1 138 ff.[ full citation needed ] - ↑ Yampolsky, Philip (1950). "The origin of the twenty-eight lunar mansions". Osiris. IX: 62–83. doi:10.1086/368524. S2CID 144119166.
- ↑ Svenberg, I.E. (1963). "Lunaria et zodiologia latina". Studia Graeca et Latina Gothoburgensia. Goteburg.
- 1 2 Tester, Jim (1987). A History of Western Astrology. Boydell and Brewer. p. 82.
- ↑ O'Neil, William Matthew (1976). Time and the Calendars. Manchester University Press. p. 53. ISBN 0-7190-0642-2.
- ↑ Hassan, Izzat (2006). Al Azmana wa al Anwaa. Morocco: Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Printing Press. ISBN 9954-0-5074-4.
