Sidereal Libra transit means rains galore !

The Sun entered the first degree of Sidereal Libra, thus heralding the North East Monsoon or Thula Varsham, as per Astro Meteorology.

This is the Retreating Monsoon. Coming as a depression from the Bay of Bengal, it takes the moisture laden winds and then sweep down on the Himalayas and Indo Gangetic plains, and then pours over peninsular India ! Mainly caused by the heat generated by the overhead Sun on the Tropic of Capricorn. The places of the Indian Ocean becomes hot and the northern parts of India become cool. Cool winds from the Bay of Bengal cause this and the result is Thula Varsham !

Expected to rain till the end of the sidereal month of Vrischika or Scorpio, NEM is a boon to states like Tamil Nadu. Kerala gets both SWM and NEM !

Kepler's Physical Astronomy

No study of Astronomy is complete without Kepler ! Did he not bequeth the Laws of Planetary Motion to the world ?

Astronomy is nothing but Mathematical Astrology and Kepler gave the world the three laws of Motion.

1) The planets move in elliptical orbits.

20 Planets move fastest at perihelion ( nearest point to Helios, the Sun ) and slowest at Aphelion ( the farthest point from the Sun ).

3)The squares of their sidereal periods ( orbital periods ) is equal to the cubes of their semi major axes.

The base of Western Astronomy is Kepler. First we study Kepler and then we study Laplace !

Previousy astronomers ( Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Brahe, Copernicus ) have used many geomertical models to give a mathematical account of the movement of the luminaries. Astronomy is a branch of Physics, declared Kepler. In this great book, Kepler's Physical Astronomy, Bruce Stephenson demonstrates the importance of Kepler's physical principles of planetary motion. A must book for students of Astronomy and Mathematical Astrology.

The Sun's transit of Delta Corvi proves destructive !

Southern Kerala has been devastated by the solar transit of Delta Corvi ( Hasta Njattuvela ). When I woke up today it was raining cats and dogs and even now at 0900 AM, it is still raining.

This D Corvi transit has brought destruction in its wake. In Quilon, one guy died in the pond.

462 houses were destroyed in Trivandrum. The low lying areas of the District are under water now. Agriculture has been destroyed in Karamanayar, Vamanaypuram and. 493 people were moved to rehabilitation camps. The beach is votatile but no destruction has been reported.

The low lying areas of Quilon have been isolated. The rivers of Kallada, Achan Kovil and Ithikara are overflowing.

In Quilon alone 148 houses have been destroyed. 750 partially. The loss has been reported to be 2.15 Cr. 1215 people were moved to rehabilitation camps.

Rains will be there for four more days.

This signals the end of the South West Monsoon. On Oct 18th, Thula Varsham or the North East Monsoon takes over, when the Sun enters the first degree of Sidereal Libra.

Chitra ( Sun's transit of Alpha Virginis ) and Chothi Njattuvelas are known for good rains.

This seems to be Kanni Thula Varsham, as rains are accompanied by lightning, which is the characteristic of Thula Varsham ( the North East Monsoon .

Dane Rudhyar

Did you know that the 360 degrees of the Zodiac has 360 different symbols? These Sabian symbols (a set of astrological notations representing each degree of the zodiac ) can be used for divination. Discusses origins of the symbols. Learn from the great Dane Rudhyar, a Titan in the field of Astrology.

Rudhyar integrated Jungian Psychology with Astrology and called it Harmonic Astrology. He postulated that the stars do not cause the effects ( like Dante who said planets impel and they do not compel ) and that but were pictures synchronistically aligned to human beings. Detailing psychological forces working in individuals. He did not override human freedom in responding to these forces. His magnum opus "The Astrology of Personality" was published in Lucis Publishing.

Astronomy is Siddhanta or Ganitha

If you want to calculate the longitudes of planets and create an Astro Software, then the best book for you is Laplace's CelestialMechanics. You can find out the mean longitudes of the planets, calculate the perturbations, the epicycles and then calculate the Heliocentric Longitudes of planets. You can use Laplacian equations to then reduce it to the Ecliptic Coordinates and then reduce them to Geocentric Coordinates, thus computing the true longitudes of the planets. A must for Astro software developers.


Kepler's Formulae

Kepler represents Old Astronomy. If you want to creat an Astro Software, you have to solve the Kepler problem. The Kepler Equation, M = E - e Sin E, may sound easy, but it is a transcendental equation and the most difficult amongst Kepler's equations. We can find out the True Anomaly of the planet, that is the angle between the planet and perihelion. The next step is to find the Argument of Perihelion, which is the angle between the Node and perihelion.


Laplace - Advanced Astronomy

Laplace's Celestial Mechanics is one of the best books ever written. If you read this magnificent book, you can handle Astronomy and Maths easily. 

A superb book !

Vedic Astrology, a guide to the fundamentals of Jyothish, is a great book by Ronnie Dreyer, for those hungering for the knowledge of Jyothish. Ronnie Dreyer has made the tough subject light by explaining in simple terms the mighty science of Astrology. Dreyer is well versed in Western Astrology, despite having profound knowledge of Jyothish. She can fathom the complexities, the pitfalls and the perplexities that veteran Western astrologer encounter while they deal with Jyothish. Throughout the book, there are warnings and hints that guide astrologers in the proper path, saving them from the interpretative calamities experienced by many astro savants.

Vedic Astrology is explained in simple terms to the student, without much technical jargon. Vedic Astrology is similar to Western Astrology and differs only by 23.5 degrees, which is the difference between the Zodiacs now.

Foreword is by James Braha, another veteran Vedic Astrologer.

This book is a must for the novitiate, as it contains immense information to the students of Evolutionary Astrology.

Eccentric and Epicyclic Theories in Indian Astronomy

The great Kepler bequethed the Three Laws of Motion to the world and became immortal. That the planets move in elliptical orbits, that a planet moves fastest at perihelion and that the squares of their sidereal periods equal the cube roots of their semi-major axes.

The Hindu astronomers never talked about ellipses. The Indian astronomic books say that the planets go in an epicycle, whose center moves along the mean circular orbit from west to east. This the Epicyclic Theory.

Another theory called the Eccentric Theory says that the planet goes in a circle whose center is not the Earth, but a different point other than the Earth. The distance of this point from the Earth, is said to be equal to the Epicycle's radius. Bhaskara says " The Celestial Sphere's center coincides with the Earth's center. The circle in which a planet goes does not coincide with the Earth's center ". To obtain the true longitudes from the mean, Indian astronomers prescribed bhujaphalam, ( called Equation of Center in the case of Mandaphala, and in the case of the inferior and superior planets, this bhujaphalam also indicates the reduction to geocentric longitudes from the heliocentric ).

From this explanation from Bhaskara, it is clear that the Indian Theory is Heliocentric.