Around 3,000 years ago, the Babylonians invented the twelve signs of the zodiac, dividing the ecliptic (the sun’s apparent path) into twelve equal parts, with each sign having 30° celestial longitude. In doing so, however, the Babylonians left out a major constellation — Ophiuchus — as incorporating it would have resulted in an irregular division. (The Sun passed at least 13, not 12, Babylonian constellations, but the Babylonians ignored that fact for the sake of their neat pie chart).
Fast forward to 2016, astronomers discovered the very same constellation. And upon discovering this constellation, as well as the fact that the Earth’s axis has already changed, the people over at NASA decided to do the math to somehow fix what the Babylonians did wrong. In other words, NASA did not come up with a new constellation: they were just being factual and mathematical about it. At least that’s how they explain it over at their blog post.
But some people are not happy with the sudden change in the zodiac sign order, with some saying that they won’t listen to what NASA is saying and that they will stick to the sign they previously had. Some embraced their new star sign, while others just laughed it off.
If you’re interested in knowing the new zodiac sign dates, head over at The Sun.
What are your thoughts about this one?
(Image Credit: Tauʻolunga/ Wikimedia Commons)