→ Ancient Indian astronomers, including Aryabhata, made significant observations and explanations of celestial motions.
→ Aryabhata, in his treatise "Aryabhatiya," explained that the Earth rotates on its axis, causing the apparent daily motion of celestial objects such as the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars.
→ He used an analogy of a person in a moving boat seeing stationary objects moving backward to illustrate how observers on Earth perceive the stars as moving from east to west due to the Earth's rotation.
→ Aryabhata also calculated the time taken by the Earth to complete one rotation on its axis, estimating it to be approximately 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds, a value remarkably close to modern measurements.
→ This understanding of Earth's rotation as the cause of apparent celestial movements marked a significant contribution to astronomy.