How can they change zodiac signs

We see your comments about a zodiac story that re-emerges every few years. No, we did not change the zodiac. When the Babylonians invented the constellations 3, years ago, they chose to leave out a 13th sign. The space agency said that it has made no change to the zodiac, and pointed out that astrology which is not a science by the way is separate from astronomy which is. NASA stated in a blog post that the zodiac — which people based their astrological sign on — are simply constellations that are in line with the Earth and the Sun as the planet follows its orbit.

The BBC previously speculated that ancient astrologers perhaps ignored Ophiuchus because they wanted to chart the degree path of the Sun in a mathematically pleasing way of 12 equal parts, each one of 30 degrees. As such, Ophiuchus is considered a healer of men, a doctor of medicine, or a scientist who seeks higher education and enlightenment.

As NASA themselves explain, no one has shown that astrology can be used to predict the future or describe what people are like based only on their birth date. This article was originally published in , but has been updated throughout to ensure all information is correct. Skip to content. Sign in. Read on to find out… Updated on 1 October As we enter a new month of the year and embrace autumn in all its glory , avid astrology fans have once again turned to the stars for guidance.

You may also like. And yet…. Astrology: why horoscopes have become even more popular in lockdown. Specifically, the science of the ancient Babylonians that lived in Mesopotamia in present-day Iraq and Syria about 3, years ago.

There are a few key things you need to know about astrology:. The result? Not only your horoscope, but your star sign—as meaningless as that is—is completely wrong Ancient Babylonians, and many other civilizations before them, observed what the Sun was apparently doing, but unfortunately for us they hugely over-simplified what they saw.

It was merged into Sagittarius and Scorpio. Sadly, as well as ignoring Ophiuchus, the dates assigned to star signs by astrologers are wrong. As it spins like a top on its It is static - whatever happens to the Earth's axis.

These sectors of the sky use the equinoxes as reference points, not the constellations upon which the star signs are based.

The suggestion of a 13th sign - "Ophiuchus" - is also dismissed by astrologers. They point out that the Babylonians consciously chose 12 signs. In other systems there have also been signs for "Arachne" and "Cetus the Whale", notes Grant. Both the effect of precession on the zodiac and the presence of a 13th sign are stories that crop up in the press every few years, Grant explains. And the coverage is irksome to astrologers, says Cainer.

The publicising of the effect - and its use to dismiss astrology - represents the "incredible bigotry some members of the scientific community display towards astrology", says Cainer.