Glossary · concept
Ayanamsa
Also written sidereal correction · ayanamsha
The ayanamsa is the angle between the two zodiacs: the tropical zodiac of Western astrology, fixed to the seasons (0° Aries = the spring equinox), and the sidereal zodiac of Jyotish, fixed to the actual stars.
The two slowly drift apart because of the precession of the equinoxes — the slow wobble of the earth’s axis. Today the gap is about 24°, and growing by roughly a degree every 72 years. This is why your Jyotish sun sign is usually one sign earlier than your Western one.
This site uses the Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa, the standard adopted by the Indian government’s calendar — the same correction applied to every position we calculate, including the Sankranti dates.
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