![]() ![]() As result zodiac signs no longer align with the position of the sun.įor example, the astrological sign Taurus is said to govern the period between April 20 and May 20, as that's the constellation that the sun once appeared to be in during this period. That means that each period now occurs about one-tenth of a year - roughly a month - later than it did when astrology was being devised.īut horoscopes published in papers and magazines don't follow this astronomical system. For this reason, it is often called the precession of the equinoxes.Īs a result, the astrological signs have also shifted one-tenth around the elliptic to the west in relation to the background stars. Precession has also had the effect of shifting the equinoxes of Earth - the two points of the year at which day and night have equal lengths - along the ecliptic. Over the last 2,500 years, the intersection of the celestial equator and the ecliptic has drifted west along the ecliptic by 36 degrees - about one-tenth of its length.Īn illustration showing Earth's wobble along its rotational axis. This means that the North Pole isn't always pointing in the same direction as the background stars of the celestial sphere, and this effect accumulates. ![]() Watching this pole over the course of 25,800 years, we would see it trace out a circle over the Earth. To picture this precession, imagine a literal pole extending out of Earth at the North Pole. Known as precession this 'wobble' has a 25,800-year cycle. The gravity of the moon and the sun, and to a lesser extent the planets, acts on Earth's equatorial bulge - caused by the planet's rotation - to shift its axis of rotation. ![]() The cause of the shifting in zodiac signs is precession, the slight 'wobble' Earth experiences as it orbits the sun. The problem was, that these ancient astrologers weren't aware of a ' wobble' in Earth's motion that would seriously disrupt their system as time progressed. The other astrological signs of the zodiac were categorized in a similar way, each grabbing its own 30-degree slice of the ecliptic. This intersection is also known as the vernal equinox and the spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere because it is considered the first day of spring.Ģ,200 years ago this zero point occurred in Aries, hence its name the "first point of Aries." As a result, Aries the constellation occupied the first 30 degrees of the ecliptic from 30 to 60 degrees was taken by Taurus, and Gemini was positioned from 60 to 90 degrees. The zodiac was initially developed around 600 BCE and its zero point was defined as the point that the ecliptic intersected with the celestial equator - the great circle of the terrestrial equator on the celestial sphere. (Image credit: Wikimedia commons/Tauʻolunga) They decided to split it into 12, to correspond neatly with the 12 months of their calendar, despite the fact they had recognised 13 constellations.An illustration of the sun's motion relative to Earth throughout the year as it crosses in front of constellations representing the astrological signs of the zodiac. The blog explains how the Babylonians, who lived over 3,000 years ago, created the zodiac chart. However, the exact same story of a 13th star sign had done the rounds before this, in 2011. The uproar is all down to a blog post from 2016 on a Nasa website called Space Place, which is aimed at children, that has resurfaced. They have always been there and always been known about, astrology just chooses not to use them. This has meant that for years, signs like Ophiuchus have been ignored by astrologers in favour of the 12 “main” signs. ![]() The 12 constellations that make up the astrological signs are well known, but there are actually as many as 21, they are just smaller, and their stars don’t appear as prominently in the sky. Ophiuchus is known as the serpent-bearer (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) This means, as we see it, the sun passes into the same constellations at the same time every year. What caused the confusion?īecause of the way Earth and the other planets in the solar system orbit the sun, from Earth it looks like the sun moves around us once per year. Nasa has also not changed the signs of the zodiac – Nasa has nothing to do with astrology, which has no proven basis in fact. Ophiuchus has been known about for a very long time – the Ancient Greeks first discovered it thousands of years ago. However, Nasa has not discovered Ophiuchus, nor has it updated the zodiac chart. Sagittarius: 17 December to 20 January A depiction of how Ophiuchus looks in the sky (Photo: Wikimedia Commons) Nasa has not discovered a 13th star sign These are the new zodiac dates being touted: ![]()
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