Monday, November 20, 2023

Mahabharata Quiz - 114

 

Question – 114

Two planets rising with coppery red crust is also an abnormal feature because the rising planets will appear with bluish tint on top. How could this be scientifically explained?

Answer:

Vyasa mentions two grahas (planets) appearing with blazing top that obscured the luster of the rising Saptarishi-s. (MB: 6.3.24)

The two planets mentioned by him were Venus and Mars on the western horizon. In the same part of the sky (west), Karṇa had seen Mars make a retrograde movement as though it was going towards the star Anurādha.

The reddish hue on the two planets appearing simultaneously along with haze descending on the northern direction where he was watching the seven sages resolves the issue of rightward movement of Mars, Dhruva and Arundhati. That moment was exactly when a fragment had fallen somewhere in his vicinity. Perhaps Vyasa was on the outside facing the north to offer oblations to the seven sages at the evening twilight.

It is also likely he rushed out on hearing the thunderous noise in cloudless sky (sonic boom), to see what was happening. He had looked up at Dhruva and Arundhati and they appeared tilted from normal. The two planets on his left (west) caught his attention.  In the enveloping darkness at that time, a reddish hue was palpable on the two shining objects - Venus and Mars - on his left. The crash kicked off atmospheric turbulence immediately which blurred the Saptarishi constellation right in front of his eyes.

The abundant production of NO2 by the burning object gives rise to the reddish hue around. This was seen by Vyasa as the reddish śikha of the two planets. Around the same time, three movements - Dhruva, Arundhati and Mars - must have been detected.


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