Turagānga

Turagānga () is an Indian name that occurs in a 17th century star catalogue. Most likely, it refers to a body part of the ancient Greek constellation of Pegasus.

Concordance, Etymology, History

Turgānga means a body part (anga, ) of the horse (turaga, ).

Spelling Variants

• Turagānga
• Turangaasa

Origin of Constellation

The name is listed in a 17th century star catalogue by Nityānanda in the work Siddhāntarāja (1639 CE).

The verse provides the coordinates with numbers coded as sārdhadvaya (two and a half) and gobhūmi (19) Half of a degree added to two degrees 2|30 [is one of the coordinates of] the star Turagānga which shines with second order brightness along the north [latitude] as nineteen degrees 19|0.

It is grouped in to Mina (Pisces); the 12 zodical rasis are used as divisions of 30 degrees along the ecliptic and grouped by the same name. Longitude measures are provided from 0 to 30 within the rasi. Therefore, we need to add 330 to the coordinate so that dhruvaka (polar longitude, measured along the ecliptic) is 332|30. This is not corrected for precession. The vikṣepa (polar latitude measured along the hour circle) is 19|0 N.

Stellarium gives the value 350 degrees for the same epoch. The difference can be attributed to the precession correction.

For fixing the coordinates we use the nearest bright stars identified without ambiguity as shown in the chart - Ajapāda Alpha Pegasus and Ahirbudhnya Gamma Pegasus.

Religion/ Tales/ Mythology

mnemonic tales and cultural significance

References

• References (general)