Apamvatsa

The stars identified by Shylaja and Pai (2019), their Table 2, are marked with red circles on the map of Virgo. The two arrows correspond to Apamvatsa and Apa. The original chart by IAU and Sky & Telescope magazine (Roger Sinnott & Rick Fienberg) is from Creative Commons.

Āpaṃvatsa is an Indian star name attested throughout the last millennium. The only indication of the position is Apamvatsa is 5° to the north of Chitra (Spica) in Virgo. No information on magnitudes is preserved. Shylaja and Pai (2019) identify 74 Vir (SIMBAD, VSX), a red giant of roughly one solar mass. Red giants vary in brightness due to pulsation, but the VSX gives only an interval of 0.07 mag in V.

Concordance, Etymology, History

Translation:

Spelling Variants:

Identification Variants: Shylaja and Pai (2019) also discussed the Mira-variable S Vir that reaches V~6.3 mag in peaks, but find it unlikely. Yet, they also conclude that the identification with 74 Vir is highly uncertain.

Origin of Name

The text Sūryasiddhānta is considered as an authority from the 8th to the 19th century CE, but the author(s) remain unknown. Its date is estimated to the 4th or 5th century. It contains a chapter with lists of coordinates and names of stars, which allows for identifications.

Author	Date (CE)	Source/ Reference	Coordinates
			Dh	Vi
Aryabhaṭa	5th century
Lalla	5th– 9th century	Śiṣyadhīvṛddhidatantra of Lalla, ed. and tr. by Bina Chatterjee, vol II, INSA, New Delhi, 1981.
Vaṭeśvara	10th century	Vaṭeśvarasiddhānta of Vaṭeśvara, critically edited with English translation and commentary, by Shukla K. S., INSA, New Delhi, 1985.
Śrīpati	12th century	Siddhāntaśekhara, ed. and tr. by Sripada Bhat (INSA Report, unpublished)
Sūryasiddhānta	?	Wilkinson and Bapudeva Sastri, 1861, online digital versions Google books	5° North of Citrā
Parameśvara	13th century	Commentary on SS
Padmanābha Manuscript B number 45892	1423	Yantrarāja-Adhikāra Chapter 1, Yantrakiraṇāvali, Ohashi Y., IJHS, 32.3 (1997) 199–295.	185|9	2|53
Padmanābha Manuscript A 45888	1576 (or earlier)	Yantrarāja-Adhikāra Chapter 1, Yantrakiraṇāvali, Ohashi Y., IJHS, 32.3 (1997) 199–295.	185|9	2|53
Ganeśa Daivajña		Grahalāghava, ed. and tr. by Balachandra Rao S. and Uma S. K., 2008.	183	3
Munīśvara,	1646	Siddhāntasārvabhauma of Munīśvara, edited by Pt. Mīthālāla Ojhā, Saṃpurṇānand Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya, Varanasi, 1978.	5° North of Citrā
Ketkar	1855	Ketakīya Grahagaṇitam
Candraśekhara Sāmanta	1864	Siddhāntadarpaṇa.	5° North of Citrā

Religion/ Tales/ Mythology

mnemonic tales and cultural significance

References

• References (general)