You may believe that you’ve been a Pisces, Aries, Virgo or Sagittarius your entire life, but all that’s about to change following a rather unusual announcement by NASA. Apparently, the sun passes through 13 constellations throughout the course of a calendar year, as opposed to 12 like we’ve been erroneously taught our entire lives.
The reason for this anomaly is that when the Babylonians came up with the zodiac some 3,000 years ago, they desired to have dates on their calendar that corresponded with the 12 phases of the moon. The thing is that this meant they had to omit one of the constellations they could see.
To ensure their zodiac remained tidy, they dropped the Ophiuchus from it, leaving only 12 astrological signs. Ophiuchus is supposedly the Serpent Bearer, and people born between November 29th and December 17th are actually Ophiuchuses, as opposed to Scorpios or Sagittariuses.
Furthermore, although the traditional 12-part zodiac that we’ve grown up with is divided into equal parts, it doesn’t actually reflect how long the Earth is in line with a given constellation as it rotates on its axis. A good example of this is Virgo, which is in line with the earth for a full 45 days, even though the astrological sign only lasts for one month (August 22nd-September 22nd).
Another thing contributing to the shift in the zodiac we’ve traditionally been taught is the fact that the Earth’s axis doesn’t even point in the same direction as it did when the original constellations were drawn, rendering them somewhat inaccurate.
Want to know what your new astrological sign is? Check out the list below:
Capricorn: Jan. 20 to Feb. 16
Aquarius: Feb. 16 to March 11
Pisces: March 11 to April 18
Aries: April 18 to May 13
Taurus: May 13 to June 21
Gemini: June 21 to July 20
Cancer: July 20 to Aug. 10
Leo: Aug. 10 to Sept. 16
Virgo: Sept. 16 to Oct. 30
Libra: Oct. 30 to Nov. 23
Scorpio: Nov. 23 to Nov. 29
Ophiuchus: Nov. 29 to Dec. 17
Sagittarius: Dec. 17 to Jan. 20
Content Sources: Today, KDVR, Fox59
Images by Deposit Photos
