In a tweet on July 16, 2020, NASA clarified that the zodiac had not been altered. The text of the tweet is as follows: “Your comments on a zodiac narrative that resurfaces every few years have caught our attention. No, the zodiac has not been altered. The Babylonians elected to leave out a 13th sign when they created the constellations 3,000 years ago. So, we crunched the numbers.”
The tweet includes a link to a NASA Tumblr page, which goes into greater detail about the story and distinguishes between astronomy and astrology. Astronomy is “the scientific study of everything in outer space,” while astrology is “the belief that the positions of stars and planets can influence human events.”
The Babylonians, who lived over 3,000 years ago, split the zodiac into 12 divisions and chose constellations for each, which corresponded to the 12 months of the calendar, according to the Wikipedia.
“However, there were 13 constellations in the zodiac according to ancient Babylonian tales. So they chose Ophiuchus to be the one to be left out. Even then, several of the chosen 12 didn’t fit cleanly into their designated pie slice and crossed into the next.”
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What is your zodiac sign’s current age?
Astrologers agree that astrological ages last about 2000 years, and we’ve been in the age of Pisces for the past two millennia.
What are the dates of Ophiuchus?
The Serpent Bearer, Ophiuchus, is frequently referred to as the 13th or Forgotten Constellation of the Zodiac. Because the sun passes in front of Ophiuchus every year between November 30 and December 18, this is the case. Despite this, no one ever claims to have been born when the sun was in Ophiuchus.
What are astrological signs and what do they mean? The 12 signs of the tropical zodiac represent 30-degree sections of the sky that are equally proportioned. That’s why, for example, the sun only appears in front of each zodiac sign for about a month at a time. Meanwhile, the sun passes in front of the constellations for varied lengths of time, for example, around 1 1/2 months in front of the constellation Virgo and about a week in front of the constellation Scorpius.
What are the different types of astronomy constellations? Ancient stargazers identified patterns in the stars, gave them names, and linked them to legends and mythology. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) established formal constellation borders in the early twentieth century. The constellations come in a variety of sizes and shapes. The zodiac constellations are those in which the sun, moon, and planets all travel. We’ve had 12 zodiac constellations for as long as anyone can remember. Their names (roughly) correspond to the 12 zodiac signs.
There are 13 zodiac constellations if you include Ophiuchus, which also keeps the sun within its limits for part of the year.
Ophiuchus a short hop north of Antares
On these July nights, you can glimpse Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer. The stars are faint, so you’ll need a dark sky to see them. From the Northern Hemisphere, look for Ophiuchus in the south at nightfall. Around mid-evening, look more overhead from the Southern Hemisphere.
Antares, a brilliant red star in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion, can aid in the search for Ophiuchus. Ophiuchus can be seen a short distance north of Antares.
The brightest star in Ophiuchus is Rasalhague, a 2nd-magnitude star that highlights Ophiuchus’ head. In the Ophiuchus chart below, look for Rasalhague. Rasalhague, on the other hand, isn’t nearly as bright as Antares.
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What is the total number of zodiac signs?
Each of the zodiac’s 12 astrological signs is said to occupy 1/12 (or 30) of its vast circle. These symbols no longer match to the astrological constellations where the Sun can be found.
What makes some horoscope dates distinct from others?
The finding was first announced by NASA in a blog post earlier this year, explaining that when the ancient Babylonians developed the zodiac over 3,000 years ago, they wanted dates on the calendar to match to star constellations. However, there were 13 constellations to consider, and they were using a 12-month calendar. As a result, they abandoned Ophiuchus.
NASA also pointed out that the Earth’s axis no longer points in the same direction as it did when the constellations were first drawn, therefore all of our signs now have various date ranges.
To put it another way, astrological turmoil. NASA’s science nerds don’t seem to mind that they’ve turned our lives upside down. “Here at NASA, we study astronomy, not astrology,” they said in a statement last week. We didn’t make any changes to the zodiac signs; we simply did the math.”
What is the correct pronunciation of Ophiuchus?
Ophiuchus is pronounced as /fijuks/ in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). Ophiuchus is pronounced “oh-FEW-kuss” in simple old English.