Scholars in the field of Archaeoastronomy have published a new study using high-resolution celestial simulations to date the earliest layers of the Rigveda. By analyzing specific hymns referring to the Ashvini twins (associated with the stars Alpha and Beta Arietis) and their position relative to the morning sun, researchers identified a unique planetary alignment that occurred in the 5th millennium BCE.
The model suggests that the poetic descriptions of the 'divine physicians' arriving at dawn correspond to a rare triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn near the vernal equinox point of 4200 BCE. This finding pushes the timeline of systematic astronomical observation in the Indian subcontinent back significantly, providing a new anchor for Vedic chronology.