Pushya

Authors: Susanne M Hoffmann, Youla Azkarrula

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Pushya, 8th nakshatra, temple ...

पुष्य (Pushya)

Asterism Info
Native	पुष्य
Romanisation	Pushya
IPA	puʂjɐ
Translation	Puṣya
Position (2000)
Right ascension	127.8988748 to 131.1712466
Declination	18.09441817 to 21.4684988
Area	8.39 sq. deg.
Stars
Bright stars	9
Bayer/Flamsteed stars	8
Stars brighter than 3.00m	0
Brightest star	Asellus Australis (3.94m)
Taxonomy
category of asterism	constellation
IAU- constellations	Cnc

Pushya, 8th Nakshatra, drawn as an arrow in Cancer.

Puṣya (पुष्य) is an Indian name, used by the Indian Vedic tradition. Most of these names are roughly 3000 years old. They pre-date Hinduism but were taken over by it. Pushya is identified with the stars γ, δ and θ Cancri that surround the star cluster M44. Its appearance is described in Indian star catalogs with the term 'meghavt', cloudy/ nebulous (मेघ , megha, cloud), which refers to the open star cluster itself.

Etymology and History

Name Variants

• Puṣya,
• Pushya
• Sidhya
• Tiṣya

Origin of Constellation

The term literally means "the Nourisher" and therefore causes the same association of the star cluster in Cancer like the Greek "manger" that survives in the Latin name of the star cluster M44: Praesepe.

Yet, as the image found in historical depictions is an arrow with only one (bright) star, it suggests that the feathers of the arrow actually represent the group in and around M44. The bright star is α CMi (Procyon) that rises simultaneously with the faint stars in Cancer was likely used as a marker for them, in particular during twilight observations. Thus, the arrow could be the imagined line between the actual nakshatra group and the observed bright star as indicator.

Pushya	Vedic	Tirupperunthurai	Chinese	(Jones 1790)
	'meghavt'	6 stars	5 stars	2 stars
	obviously always the quadrilateral surrounding the star cluster, sometimes with an additional star

Stars within the Constellation Area

id	Label	IAU design.	description	Vmag
1	Asellus Australis	HIP 42911	Constellation lines (Vertex)	3.94
2	Asellus Borealis	HIP 42806	Constellation lines (Vertex)	4.652
3	η Cancri	HIP 41909	Constellation lines (Vertex)	5.325
4	θ Cancri	HIP 41822	Constellation lines (Vertex)	5.337
5	[AKS95] 73	[AKS95] 73	Inside the hull	5.832
6	[AKS95] 69	[AKS95] 69	Inside the hull	6.176
7	Meleph	HIP 42556	Inside the hull	6.29
8	39 Cnc	HIP 42516	Inside the hull	6.39
9	-	HIP 42549	Inside the hull	6.39

Transfer and Transformation of the Constellation

• 
  Pushya, 10th century CE
• 
  Display of all 28th nakshatras in silver arch with candles in Tirupperunthurai (Athmanathaswamy temple) near Aranthangi, India, 10th century CE. (SMH 2025).
• 
  Display of all 28th nakshatras in a door frame in Tirupperunthurai (Athmanathaswamy temple) near Aranthangi, India, 10th century CE. (SMH 2025).
• 
  Pushya, Tibetean
• 
  Pushya, Chinese
• 
  Pushya as reconstructed by Jones (1720)

Mythology

mnemonic tales and cultural significance

References

• References (general)