As much as I hate it when people assume that astronomy=astrology, I love sharing this little bit of information….
Your astrological or zodiac sign (whether you’re a Libra, Taurus, etc.) has to do with the constellation that was highest in the night sky the day you were born. These constellations fall on the ecliptic, which is the path that the planets take across the night sky. There are 12 constellations and therefore 12 zodiac signs that appear for about a month at a time throughout the year. All this was put together by the ancient Greeks back a couple thousand years ago, and has been in pop culture ever since. There isn't a single newspaper nowadays that doesn't give you your daily horoscope. Well I'm sorry to disappoint all of you that live by your horoscope, but the zodiac sign you thought you were is wrong. (What! But my personality fit so nicely with my zodiac sign! How could this be true!) Pop culture never took into account that the stars and our solar system move. In the past couple thousand years, our solar system has revolved around our galaxy, and changed position enough such that the stars in the night sky don't appear at the same time that they used to thousands of years ago. So now instead of the Libra constellation being highest in the sky in early October, it's highest in early November. You can figure out your true zodiac sign using your birthday and the list below. Note that some people want to define a new zodiac called Ophiuchus, but it hasn't really been accepted into pop culture yet.
Capricorn - Jan 20 to Feb 16
Aquarius - Feb 16 to Mar 11
Pisces - Mar 11 to Apr 18
Aries - Apr 18 to May 13
Taurus - May 13 to Jun 21
Gemini - Jun 21 to Jul 20
Cancer - Jul 20 to Aug 10
Leo - Aug 10 to Sep 16
Virgo - Sep 16 to Oct 30
Libra - Oct 30 to Nov 23
Scorpius - Nov 23 to Nov 29
Ophiuchus - Nov 29 to Dec 17
Sagittarius - Dec 17 to Jan 20
I told this to someone the other day and they were devastated. They lived their life by their horoscope and couldn't believe that it had changed. Hope this doesn't burst your bubble!
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