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[[File:24 Shatabhisa draw.png|thumb|Shatabhisha is literally depicted with 100 stars in temples. ]] |
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A brief information (language, culture of origin) |
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[[File:24 naks Shatabhisha stellarium.gif|thumb|The Shatabhisa asterism covers an area in Aqr with countless faint stars. ]] |
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शतभिषक्/शततारका (Sanscrit for Satabhisa) is the 24th of the 27 Nakshatras. Spelling variants are Śatabhiṣa, (Śatabhiṣaj; Śatabhiṣak). |
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==Etymology |
==Etymology, History, Concordance== |
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The system of nakshatras for marking the path of the moon (and the sun) has been prevalent for almost 5000 years since the epics and older texts on astronomy mention the 27 asterisms with their determinative stars. |
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=== Etymology of the name === |
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This nakshatra consists of four stars but the name consisting of the term "sata" for "100" led to the misinterpretation that there were one hundred stars. The earliest identification of the name getting associated with 100 stars by Varahamihira of 7th century has been carried forward.<ref name=":0">Shankar Balkrishna Dixit (1981). Indian Astronomy History (Bharatiya Jyotish Sastra 2). Orig. Sanscrit, translated to English by R. V. Vaidya, Delhi |
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</ref> The works prior to that refer to it as one to four star(s), <ref name=":0" /> see table on p. 344. Because of this misinterpretation, the asterism is sometimes referred to as '''śatatārā''' (also meaning 100 stars). |
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The word's literal meaning is ‘100 physicians’ (p. 346) – the origin for the number 100 remains unknown.<ref name=":0" /> |
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=== Identifications === |
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The asterism is in temples depicted as a geometrically perfect formation of 100 small stars in circles and lines. This suggests that the term "Shatabhisa" originally was used to describe the area with countless faint stars that do not form any recognizable pattern (and that was interpreted as the water in the outlet of a [[Aquarius]] Water-pourer in ancient Greece). |
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Vedic nakshatras were typically characterized (e.g. on astrolabes in Early Modern time or in historical star lists/ catalogues) by their main star. The main star (''yogatara'') of this asterism was λ Aquarii. |
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=== Main Star (Yogatara) === |
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The star λ Aquarii is considered the determinative star of the nakshatra.<ref name=":0" /> Alternatively, in particular in mantic circles, alternatively γ Aqr is used (probably a reading or writing error). The identification with λ Aqr with Śatabhiṣa can be traced to the early works of Colebrook, Bentley, Whitney and Burgess, corroborated by Indian authors who were well versed with Siddhanta and European astronomy; they include Keropant, Bapudeva Sastry, V B Ketkar and S B Dikshit (all scholars of 19th century). We<ref>R. Venketeswara Pai and B. S. Shylaja , 2016, Measurement of coordinates of Nakśatras in Indian astronomy, Current Science, vol 111, issue 9, 1551-8</ref> checked the coordinates from the catalogue of Nityananda (15th century) and they match: There are no star maps with the names written down. The only chart that is available in Jaipur collection was prepared by Madho Singh (son of Sawai Jai Singh, who built the famous masonry instruments). It is a chart (T006, online catalogue of Sarma, 2023<ref>Sarma, S.R., 2023. A descriptive catalogue of Indian Astronomical Instruments MS https://srsarma.in/catalogue.php</ref>) for identifying the time of meridian transits of stars. The red pointers give the transit time; the black ones provide rise and times. From the chart we can read 56:32 ''ghaṭi'' for Śatabhiṣa. We need to understand this in the Indian system, which has a day is divided into 60 ghaṭi. On this scale for example, the meridian transit of Antares (Jyeṣṭha) occurs at 40:34 as per the Table. The difference 15:58 ''ghaṭi'' gets converted to 6<sup>h</sup> 23<sup>min</sup> (with 1 ''ghaṭi'' = 24 minutes). This is exactly the difference in their Right Ascensions, 22:52 - 16:29 = 6:23 (from stellarium). |
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In India, "nakshatras" are used to mark the movement of the moon. The path of the moon is visible in the sky as the moon occasionally covers stars in this rage of 5° around the ecliptic. λ Aquarii is directly at the ecliptic and therefore cannot only be covered by the moon but also by the planets which makes the star's position particularly interesting. |
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=== Modern India === |
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In modern Indian planetariums and popular astronomy, the name Satabhisa is used for the star λ Aquarii (that stands pars pro toto for the nakshatra). |
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There is a mantic meaning of all nakshatras. Each of them is ruled by a planet and a deity. The "Lord" of Satabhisa is the north lunar node (Rahu), the deity is Varuna, the god of cosmic waters, sky and Earth. The nakshatra covers the section of the zodiac 13° 46 to 27°06 Pisces (which now lays in the constellation of Aquarius due to precession). |
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== Reference == |
== Reference == |
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* https://archive.org/details/BharatiyaJyotishSastra2 |
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* Sarma, S.R., 2023. A descriptive catalogue of Indian Astronomical Instruments MS https://srsarma.in/catalogue.php |
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[[Category:Single star-asterism]] |
[[Category:Single star-asterism]] |
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[[Category:Eurasia]] |
[[Category:Eurasia]] |
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[[Category:South Asian]] |
[[Category:South Asian]] |
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[[Category:Indian]] |
[[Category:Indian]][[Category:Zodiac]] |
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[[Category:Aqr]] |
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Latest revision as of 13:35, 5 September 2025
शतभिषक्/शततारका (Sanscrit for Satabhisa) is the 24th of the 27 Nakshatras. Spelling variants are Śatabhiṣa, (Śatabhiṣaj; Śatabhiṣak).
Etymology, History, Concordance
The system of nakshatras for marking the path of the moon (and the sun) has been prevalent for almost 5000 years since the epics and older texts on astronomy mention the 27 asterisms with their determinative stars.
Etymology of the name
This nakshatra consists of four stars but the name consisting of the term "sata" for "100" led to the misinterpretation that there were one hundred stars. The earliest identification of the name getting associated with 100 stars by Varahamihira of 7th century has been carried forward.[1] The works prior to that refer to it as one to four star(s), [1] see table on p. 344. Because of this misinterpretation, the asterism is sometimes referred to as śatatārā (also meaning 100 stars).
The word's literal meaning is ‘100 physicians’ (p. 346) – the origin for the number 100 remains unknown.[1]
Identifications
The asterism is in temples depicted as a geometrically perfect formation of 100 small stars in circles and lines. This suggests that the term "Shatabhisa" originally was used to describe the area with countless faint stars that do not form any recognizable pattern (and that was interpreted as the water in the outlet of a Aquarius Water-pourer in ancient Greece).
Vedic nakshatras were typically characterized (e.g. on astrolabes in Early Modern time or in historical star lists/ catalogues) by their main star. The main star (yogatara) of this asterism was λ Aquarii.
Main Star (Yogatara)
The star λ Aquarii is considered the determinative star of the nakshatra.[1] Alternatively, in particular in mantic circles, alternatively γ Aqr is used (probably a reading or writing error). The identification with λ Aqr with Śatabhiṣa can be traced to the early works of Colebrook, Bentley, Whitney and Burgess, corroborated by Indian authors who were well versed with Siddhanta and European astronomy; they include Keropant, Bapudeva Sastry, V B Ketkar and S B Dikshit (all scholars of 19th century). We[2] checked the coordinates from the catalogue of Nityananda (15th century) and they match: There are no star maps with the names written down. The only chart that is available in Jaipur collection was prepared by Madho Singh (son of Sawai Jai Singh, who built the famous masonry instruments). It is a chart (T006, online catalogue of Sarma, 2023[3]) for identifying the time of meridian transits of stars. The red pointers give the transit time; the black ones provide rise and times. From the chart we can read 56:32 ghaṭi for Śatabhiṣa. We need to understand this in the Indian system, which has a day is divided into 60 ghaṭi. On this scale for example, the meridian transit of Antares (Jyeṣṭha) occurs at 40:34 as per the Table. The difference 15:58 ghaṭi gets converted to 6h 23min (with 1 ghaṭi = 24 minutes). This is exactly the difference in their Right Ascensions, 22:52 - 16:29 = 6:23 (from stellarium).
In India, "nakshatras" are used to mark the movement of the moon. The path of the moon is visible in the sky as the moon occasionally covers stars in this rage of 5° around the ecliptic. λ Aquarii is directly at the ecliptic and therefore cannot only be covered by the moon but also by the planets which makes the star's position particularly interesting.
Modern India
In modern Indian planetariums and popular astronomy, the name Satabhisa is used for the star λ Aquarii (that stands pars pro toto for the nakshatra).
Religion/ Mythology
There is a mantic meaning of all nakshatras. Each of them is ruled by a planet and a deity. The "Lord" of Satabhisa is the north lunar node (Rahu), the deity is Varuna, the god of cosmic waters, sky and Earth. The nakshatra covers the section of the zodiac 13° 46 to 27°06 Pisces (which now lays in the constellation of Aquarius due to precession).
IAU Working Group Star Names
The name was discussed and approved by the IAU WGSN in 2024. As this star is already named ..., the WGSN chose ... (not to apply/ to apply the name to a neighbouring star/ to ...) in the IAU-CSN.
Reference
- https://archive.org/details/BharatiyaJyotishSastra2
- Sarma, S.R., 2023. A descriptive catalogue of Indian Astronomical Instruments MS https://srsarma.in/catalogue.php
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Shankar Balkrishna Dixit (1981). Indian Astronomy History (Bharatiya Jyotish Sastra 2). Orig. Sanscrit, translated to English by R. V. Vaidya, Delhi
- ↑ R. Venketeswara Pai and B. S. Shylaja , 2016, Measurement of coordinates of Nakśatras in Indian astronomy, Current Science, vol 111, issue 9, 1551-8
- ↑ Sarma, S.R., 2023. A descriptive catalogue of Indian Astronomical Instruments MS https://srsarma.in/catalogue.php
