Editing History of astronomy (section)

===India===
{{Main|Indian astronomy}}
{{Further|History of science#Indian astronomy}}
{{See also|Hindu astrology}}Astronomy in the Indian subcontinent dates back to the period of [[Indus Valley Civilisation]] during 3rd millennium BC, when it was used to create calendars.<ref name="Bely">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbLPel3zRdEC&pg=PA197|title=A Question and Answer Guide to Astronomy|author1=Pierre-Yves Bely|author2=Carol Christian|author3=Jean-René Roy|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0-521-18066-5|page=197}}</ref> As the Indus Valley civilization did not leave behind written documents, the oldest extant Indian astronomical text is the [[Vedanga Jyotisha]], dating from the [[Vedic period]].<ref name="Cosmic">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PFTGKi8fjvoC&pg=FA25|title=Cosmic Perspectives|last=Subbarayappa|first=B. V.|date=14 September 1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-34354-1|editor=Biswas, S. K.|pages=25–40|chapter=Indian astronomy: An historical perspective|editor2=Mallik, D. C. V.|editor3=[[C. V. Vishveshwara|Vishveshwara, C. V.]]}}</ref> The Vedanga Jyotisha is attributed to Lagadha and has an internal date of approximately 1350&nbsp;BC, and describes rules for tracking the motions of the Sun and the Moon for the purposes of ritual. It is available in two recensions, one belonging to the Rig Veda, and the other to the Yajur Veda. According to the Vedanga Jyotisha, in a ''yuga'' or "era", there are 5 solar years, 67 lunar sidereal cycles, 1,830 days, 1,835 sidereal days, and 62 synodic months. During the sixth century, astronomy was influenced by the Greek and Byzantine astronomical traditions.<ref name="Bely" /><ref>Neugebauer, O. (1952) Tamil Astronomy: A Study in the History of Astronomy in India. Osiris, 10:252–276.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kak |first=Subhash |date=1995 |title=The Astronomy of the Age of Geometric Altars |journal=Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume=36 |pages=385–395|bibcode=1995QJRAS..36..385K}}</ref>

[[Aryabhata]] (476–550), in his magnum opus ''[[Aryabhatiya]]'' (499), propounded a computational system based on a planetary model in which the Earth was taken to be [[Earth's rotation|spinning on its axis]] and the periods of the planets were given with respect to the Sun. He accurately calculated many astronomical constants, such as the periods of the planets, times of the [[solar eclipse|solar]] and [[lunar eclipse|lunar]] [[eclipse]]s, and the instantaneous motion of the Moon.<ref name="Joseph">{{harvtxt|Joseph|2000}}.</ref><ref>Thurston, H, ''Early Astronomy.'' Springer, 1994, p. 178–188.</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2010}} Early followers of Aryabhata's model included [[Varāhamihira]], [[Brahmagupta]], and [[Bhāskara II]].

Astronomy was advanced during the [[Shunga Empire]], and many [[star catalogue]]s were produced during this time. The Shunga period is known{{According to whom|date=May 2017}} as the "Golden age of astronomy in India".
It saw the development of calculations for the motions and places of various planets, their rising and setting, [[Astronomical conjunction|conjunctions]], and the calculation of eclipses.

By the sixth century, Indian astronomers believed that comets were celestial bodies that re-appeared periodically. This was the view expressed in the sixth century by the astronomers [[Varahamihira]] and Bhadrabahu. The tenth-century astronomer [[Bhattotpala]] listed the names and estimated periods of certain comets, but it is not known how these figures were calculated or how accurate they were.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ILBuYcGASxcC&pg=PA293|title=Exploring Ancient Skies: A Survey of Ancient and Cultural Astronomy|last1=Kelley|first1=David H.|last2=Milone|first2=Eugene F.|date=2011|page=293|publisher=Springer |isbn=9781441976246}}</ref>