Vishaka captured in Libra constellation with mobile astrophotography
This is the 16th Nakshatra of the zodiac, spanning from 20°00' in Tula to 3°20' in Vrshchika. Hence its first three quarters fall in the sign Tula, while the last quarter falls in the sign Vrshchika.
Tula rashi is explained through a Mythical tale of King Sibi.
King Sibi ruled over the kingdom of Sibi and was known for his philanthropy. One day, Indra and Agni came to test the limits of the king’s generosity. The two gods disguised themselves as a hawk and a dove. The hawk started chasing the dove and the dove fell on King Sibi’s lap trembling with fear. The hawk demanded the king to surrender the dove as its prey. The king refused saying that the dove had sought his protection. After much argument the hawk agreed to leave the dove alone if the king would offer a piece of flesh from his own body which was equivalent to the weight of the dove. The king was more than happy to make such a sacrifice. Strangely, after endless slicing off his flesh and placing it on the scale, the king found that he could not equal the weight of the dove. The king threw his entire body on the scale and even then the scales tipped in favor of the dove. At this point the hawk and the dove revealed their true identity and praised the king for his unbounded charitable spirit. The balance used to decide this situation is the scale that was made into Thula / Libra constellation in the sky is the popular belief.
Let us have a look at the Vishaka lunar mansion which is considered to be a lunar mansion of 3 stars captured in libra constellation at around 1 am in May 2020.
The following table lists likely candidate stars in Tula from a brightness point of view, location with respect to moon traverse band, and distance from previous Nakshatra.
α Librae — Zubenelgenubi- +2.8 mag
β Librae — Zubeneschamali — +2 .6 mag
γ Librae -Zubenelhakrabi -+3.91 mag
α Librae is a double star and, despite its ‘alpha’ designation, it is the second-brightest star system (or star) in the constellation of Libra. The system bore the traditional name of Zubenelgenubi.
β Librae, Zubeneschamali (despite its ‘beta’ designation) the brightest star in the zodiac constellation of Libra.
γ Librae, is a binary star system in the constellation of Libra. It is visible to the naked eye, having an apparent visual magnitude of +3.91. Zubenelhakrabi is the traditional name of the system.
We will see anusha/anuradha nakshatra in our next post. Until then, have a great day :-)
