Astronomy is perhaps the science whose discoveries owe least to chance, in which human understanding appears in its whole magnitude, and through which man can best learn how small he is.
According to the Vedas, the holy scriptures of Ancient India, the birth of Indian astronomy dates to around second millennium BCE. India, who made the first mark in astronomy, had significant influence on other civilizations' development in the field. Since then, the world witnessed gigantic leaps in Indian astronomy which brought India to her current position in space research.
In Indian languages, the science of astronomy is called "Khagola-Shastra". The word Khagola refers to the "cosmos" and Shastra means "Science".Many famous astronomers in india are ARYABHATTA,VARAHAMIHIRA,BRAHMAGUPTA,BHASKARA,MADHAVA,NILAKANTA etc
Aryabhata presented a mathematical system that took the earth to spin on its axis and considered the motions of the planets with respect to the sun (in other words it was heliocentric). His book, the Aryabhatiyam, presented astronomical and mathematical theories in which the Earth was taken to be spinning on its axis and the periods of the planets were given with respect to the sun.In this book, the day was reckoned from one sunrise to the next, whereas in his Aryabhata-siddhanta he took the day from one midnight to another.
CELESTIAL OBSERVATORIES
TOOL FOR KEEPING TRACK OF THE CONSTELLATIONS
THE JANTAR MANTAR IN JAIPUR
The Jantar Mantar in Jaipur is actually one of six major observatories built by the Maharajah. The one in Jaipur not only follows the movements of the sun and the moon to help determine auspicious dates for events, it also helps map out the position of the stars in the sky. Although no telescopic instruments were available at the time, the precise observation of the stars was greatly facilitated by observatories such as Jantar Mantar
