What's your sign?

I don't think so!

Astrology is based on what constellation the sun was in at the time of your birth. One thing it doesn't take into account is precession. The Earth actually wobbles a bit, like a spinning top that is slowing down. OK, so it takes 25,800 years each wobble, but it's still there. Have you ever heard that Polaris wasn't the north star when the pyramids were built? Same idea. Precession causes the date that the sun is at a particular point in the Zodiac to slip about one day every 70 years.

Another problem is that all of the zodiacal constellations aren't the same size. There's also a 13th one, Ophiucus, which isn't even recognized by astrologers. Here's a table that explains things better:

Constellation   Traditional      Actual(2000)      Days

Capricornus     Dec 22-Jan 21    Jan 21-Feb 16     26
Aquarius        Jan 22-Feb21     Feb 16-Mar 11     24
Pisces          Feb 22-Mar 21    Mar 11-Apr 18     38
Aries           Mar 22-Apr 21    Apr 18-May 13     25
Taurus          Apr 22-May 21    May 13-Jun 22     40
Gemini          May 22-Jun 21    Jun 22-Jul 21     29
Cancer          Jun 22-Jul 21    Jul 21-Aug 10     20
Leo             Jul 22-Aug 21    Aug 10-Sep 16     37
Virgo           Aug 22-Sep 21    Sep 16-Oct 31     45
Libra           Sep 22-Oct 21    Oct 31-Nov 23     23
Scorpius        Oct 22-Nov 21    Nov 23-Nov 29      6
Ophiucus        Not listed       Nov 29-Dec 18     19
Sagittarius     Nov 22-Dec 21    Dec 18-Jan 21     34

Days lists the number of days the sun is in each constellation.

In short, astrology is all a bunch of hooey!

Information for this page was obtained in the June 1998 issue of Sky and Telescope magazine.

All this time I thought I was an Aries, but I'm really a Pisces! HA!

Here is an illustration. April 6th is just about in the center of the Aries astrological sign (March 22 - April 21). Look at where the Sun is on that date. It is smack in the middle of Pisces.

Here it is on the same date in the year 0000

 

 

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