How Does Precession Relate to Hindu Scriptures and Ancient Astronomy?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the concept of precession, particularly how it relates to ancient Hindu scriptures and astronomy. Participants explore the possibility of using historical astronomical data to determine the pole star of the past and its implications for dating ancient texts.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant introduces the idea that precession will cause the Earth's pole star to change to Vega in approximately 14,000 years and seeks to understand precession better.
  • The same participant proposes using historical positions of the Earth relative to constellations to calculate when the Earth pointed towards a specific star, potentially linking this to the timing of Hindu scriptures.
  • Another participant provides a link to a related thread and mentions a calculator that could assist in determining the pole's position at different times.
  • A participant expresses skepticism about the accuracy of ancient measurements, suggesting that errors in observations could complicate the analysis.
  • Another participant acknowledges the potential for error in current measurements but suggests that a rough estimate could still be achieved, possibly within a century.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the feasibility and accuracy of using precession to date ancient texts, with some skepticism about the reliability of historical measurements and others suggesting that approximate conclusions could still be drawn.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved questions regarding the accuracy of ancient astronomical observations and the potential errors in current calculations, which may affect the proposed methodology.

navneet1990
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i was just finishing my project and i got a idea
maybe it is valid maybe not
could ya'll judge it and opine on it
thank you

here it is:

i heard that there is something know as preccession
and that in another 14000 years the Earth shall point towards vega
that is we have crossed 12000 years,
so 14000 years later the Earth's pole star shall be vega

and also that every year there is a precession of 50"

now i want to know more about preccession
What exactly it is

and like in hindu scripture the positions of the Earth with respect to constelattions and other stars , the position of pole star and all have been given

now using that data
could we find the star the Earth was pointing towards [ the pole star of then]
and find out the preccession difference
let us say that difference is X

the divide X degrees by 50"
and find out the time difference [ year difference]
between then and now
so we know the exact date when the Earth was pointing in that direction and hence know when exactly these scriptures were written

Is this possible?
 
Space news on Phys.org
where is the calc
i can't see it
 
its possible but measurements required back then probably wouldn't tell you much since they have relatively large errors. If they have perfect observations it would be simple, but nothing is perfect
 
yes but even now we don't have perfection
atleast we could get close with an error of about one century
 

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