🗺️ Cultural Astronomy

See how different traditions interpret the same sky - science, Western tropical, and Vedic sidereal perspectives

Same sky, different maps: Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac (aligned to seasons), Vedic uses sidereal (aligned to stars), and science uses ecliptic coordinates. Due to Earth's precession, tropical and sidereal differ by ~23.7° (Lahiri Ayanamsa).

PlanetEcliptic (Scientific)Western (Tropical)Vedic (Sidereal)Shift
Sun84.13°Gemini24.1°Gemini0.4°23.7°
Moon345.21°Pisces15.2°Aquarius21.5°Different!23.7°
Mercury304.77°Aquarius4.8°Capricorn11.1°Different!23.7°
Venus223.79°Scorpio13.8°Libra20.1°Different!23.7°
Mars352.07°Pisces22.1°Aquarius28.4°Different!23.7°
Jupiter90.28°Cancer0.3°Gemini6.6°Different!23.7°
Saturn200.35°Libra20.3°Virgo26.6°Different!23.7°

Zodiac Reference

Aries
Mesha
Fire
Taurus
Vrishabha
Earth
Gemini
Mithuna
Air
Cancer
Karka
Water
Leo
Simha
Fire
Virgo
Kanya
Earth
Libra
Tula
Air
Scorpio
Vrischika
Water
Sagittarius
Dhanu
Fire
Capricorn
Makara
Earth
Aquarius
Kumbha
Air
Pisces
Meena
Water