A multidisciplinary study in Astronomy & Heritage has correlated specific ritual descriptions in the Kathaka tradition with a rare astronomical event. By utilizing high-fidelity orbital simulations, researchers found that the 'celestial chariot' passages in the texts align perfectly with a transit of Venus across the solar disk that occurred in 1900 BCE. The timing of the rituals described in the layers matches the duration and visual characteristics of the transit as viewed from northern India.
This research confirms that Vedic astronomers were conducting systematic observations of inner-planetary movements nearly four millennia ago. The findings challenge the traditional chronology of ancient astronomy, suggesting that the development of precise observational tables for planetary transits was far more advanced in the Bronze Age than modern history has recorded.