Yash Goliya, TE EXTC
Astronomy is omnipresent, literally! The paper which you are reading right now
actually came from the remains of a dead star. You are a “star child” or a product of a
stellar supernova. Our favourite day of the week, Monday, comes from the celestial
body “Moon” and “Day”. This is why astronomy is an integral part of our lives. Yet
astronomy is fading away from our lives. In this article let us explore the past and
current scenario of astronomy in India. Also we will discover what astronomy has to
offer.
Exploring the cosmos began about 3600 years ago in India. The ancient people were
able to see the transition of stars from one constellation to another. This is how
astronomy took shape in India. The oldest Indian astronomical text is “Vedanga
Jyotisha” written by Lagadha in 1400 BC. In this text he mentions about seasons and
even leap years! Although astronomy originally began as astrology in India, it later
swayed towards science. Aryabhata was able to determine that the Earth rotated on its
axis by noting the westward motion of stars. As time progressed so did Indian
astronomy. Indian scholars made a huge impact on Islamic astronomy. The sine
function and shunya (zero) are one of the many concepts which Arabs adopted. These
concepts are required for computation of celestial movements. Europeans later studied
these concepts by Arabic translations. This is how ancient India made a profound
impact on astronomy.
Nowadays the astronomical scenario has changed drastically in India. People have a
common notion that astronomy is just a leisurely hobby as it does not solve our
problems. Well, astronomy has done a lot for us. The reason why you can send
hundreds of Alok Nath memes over Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is
because of astronomy. WLAN was developed as a method to sharpen images from
radio telescopes. I am sure you will now feel that astronomy is indeed important.
“Why send Mangalyaan to Mars when India cannot even feed its hungry?” this was
the most common argument through which people criticised India for exploring the
Universe. Logic fails when the same people justify the cost of Indian Premier League
(IPL). The cost of Mangalyaan is $ 95 million whereas Mumbai Indians, an IPL team,
had cost Reliance Industries Limited a whopping $ 111.9 million!
Despite these social hindrances and economic hardship Indian astronomy has been
able to make a mark on modern astronomy. Chandrayaan-1 detected the presence of
water on the Moon. Now India is optimistic to reach Mars by Mangalyaan. It seems
that Indian astronomy is finally gaining momentum and progressing in the right
direction.