Magha (nakshatra)

Nakshatra (Sanskrit: नक्षत्र, IAST: Nakṣatra) is the term for lunar mansion in Hindu astrology. A nakshatra is one of 28 (sometimes also 27) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to the most prominent asterisms in the respective sectors.

The starting point for the nakshatras according to Vedas is "Krittika" (it has been argued because the Pleiades may have started the year at the time the Vedas were compiled, presumably at the vernal equinox), but, in more recent compilations, the start of the nakshatras list is the point on the ecliptic directly opposite to the star Spica called Chitrā in Sanskrit, which would be Ashvinī, an asterism that is part of the modern constellation Aries, and these compilations therefore may have been compiled during the centuries when the sun was passing through the area of the constellation Aries at the time of the vernal equinox. This version may have been called Meshādi or the "start of Aries". (Other slightly different definitions exist). However, both starting points for a list of nakshatras are now out-of-date, as the sun now passes through Pisces at the time of the vernal equinox, so a current list should start with Pūrva Bhādrapadā or Uttara Bhādrapadā or Revatī at the vernal equinox. But some Hindu calendars are based on the older versions (i.e. the Indian national calendar).

The ecliptic is divided into each of the nakshatras eastwards starting from this point.

The number of nakshatras reflects the number of days in a sidereal month (modern value: 27.32 days), the width of a nakshatra traversed by the Moon in about one day. Each nakshatra is further subdivided into four quarters (or padas). These play a role in popular Hindu astrology, where each pada is associated with a syllable, conventionally chosen as the first syllable of the given name of a child born when the Moon was in the corresponding pada.

The nakshatras of traditional bhartiya (Indian) astronomy are based on a list of 28 asterisms found in the Atharvaveda (AVŚ 19.7) and also in the Shatapatha Brahmana (II.1.2). The first astronomical text that lists them is the Vedanga Jyotisha.

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