Q: New Year

[Girish Beeharry]

Hi,

> The last statement is incorrect, because the makara samkranti is the 
>Sun's entry into the
>sidereal constellation of Capricorn, whereas the uttarAyaNa always starts
>with the entry of the Sun into the tropical sign of Capricorn, that is, at
>the time of the Winter solstice.  These two no longer coincide, as has
>been explained, because of precession. 

Well, I don't think you are right. According to the jyotisha paNDitas, the Sun 
enters the constellation of Capricorn on or around the 14th of January and
uttarAyaNa starts then. The Sun, according to the popular press, enters 
the tropical constellation of Capricorn around the 22nd(?) of December. The 
ayanAMsha has already been taken care of. 

The debate here is the precise gap between the two dates. If someone knows the
precise age (or probable age WITH errors) of something like the sUrya siddhAnta
then one might do some calculations using likelihood techniques and get a 
PROBABLE value for the ayanAMsha. One has to take into account all sorts of
effects including the decrease (small) in the rate of rotation of the Earth.

Besides, one should use the technical term rAshi instead of constellation as 
I never see the constellation of Ophiuchus mentionned at all even though it is 
bang on the celestial equator.

Bye,

Girish Beeharry