Guest guest Posted October 17, 2000 Report Share Posted October 17, 2000 Namaste Anantarupa, Topocentric vs geocentric controversy is different from parallax. Geocentric positions take the center of earth as the observing point. Topocentric positions take the true location as the observing point and count degrees from there. Parallax deals with the observed (and not the observer). Whether we want the true location of a planet or its apparent (visible) location is a different issue. We can take a topocentric true position and also a topocentric apparent position, for example. In " Jagannatha Hora " , you can control (1) whether to use geocentric or topocentric positions, (2) whether to compensate for the time light takes to travel to us (in that time the planet moves slightly), (3) the parallax error. I will let you control them all. BTW, you may hear people making claims about this stuff, but you should remember one thing. The inlfuence planets exert on us is probably not through light and probably through other media (like magnetism or gravity). For example, Moon influences us even when he is not visible. If you want to consider the parallax error in Moon's position, what do you do if Moon is not visible? Moreover, the exact parallax error depends on the weather, atmospheric pressure and temperature. Technically speaking, it cannot be exactly predicted. What software programs give is only an average expectation and the exact parallax error can vary considerably based on weather. Moreover, as I said, it is undefined if the planet is not visible. So parallax and true vs apparent positions things doesn't excite me. Its basis is highly questionable. I am pretty sure it has to be the true positions and not the apparent positions. But geocentric vs topocentric is an issue I am not sure of! Case can be made for both. You can to vedic astrology by sending a blank mail with any subject to vedic astrology- You can access the archives at the place Narayan gave. May Jupiter's light shine on us, Narasimha > I am eagerly looking forward to see your upcoming Jyotisha software. > I have a question in this regard (actually it is also a request): > > Will the program have an option to calculate topocentric longitude of > Moon or will all planetary longitudes be geocentric only. I am asking > because I read an article in which the author ( an indian astronomer) > argues very convincingly that the ancients used topocentric longitude > only. He says that all siddhantas gave a lot of importance to parallax > corrections (lambana in sanskrit) and that without this lunar parallax > correction one cannot even calculate the exact timings of solar eclipse > or beginning/ending times of tithis. > > From what I understand, goravani jyotisha gives the option to turn > lunar parallax correction off or on. The user can choose between > geocentric and topocentric longitudes. It would be nice if you > could include this feature in your program. > > regards, Anantarupa > > PS: Can I join vedic astrology list? If yes, how? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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