Astronomy
T1
Off by about one second. The Sūrya-Siddhānta encodes the Moon's orbit as a ratio of two whole numbers — 57,753,336 revolutions in an Age of 1,577,917,828 days — which works out to a sidereal month of 27.321674 days. The modern measured value is 27.321662. A Sanskrit text whose core is ~fifteen centuries old carries the Moon's period to within 1.1 seconds — a precision Babylonian and Greek lunar theory also reached, each tradition by its own route.
From the source
“Of the moon, fifty-seven million, seven hundred and fifty-three thousand, three hundred and thirty-six ”
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Featured in 4 articles
- The wonder-working fabric: build-your-own cosmos in the Sūrya-Siddhānta
Published July 5, 2026
- Right about the Moon, wrong about the Sun: the Sūrya-Siddhānta sizes the neighbors
Published July 5, 2026
- 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4.1 seconds: Aryabhata times the Earth's spin (499 CE)
Published July 5, 2026
- One second per month: the Sūrya-Siddhānta's lunar orbit
Published July 5, 2026