Do you know your sun sign? Well, even if you do, it’s probably wrong! Let me provide some background. The zodiac is a term for the 12 constellations found along the Sun’s ecliptic (a circle that represents the Sun’s apparent path through the constellations throughout the year), while your sun sign indicates what constellation the Sun was in when you were born. Sounds easy enough to determine your sun sign (and entire natal chart, if you’re that interested), right? Not exactly. During the 5th century BC, Babylonian astronomers established the 12 zodiac signs along the ecliptic, with each sign containing 30 degrees of celestial longitude. [1] However, what these astronomers did not know (and really had no reason to believe at the time- Ockham’s razor!) is that the Earth experiences a phenomenon called precession, which is the “gradual wobble of the axis of a rotating object around a vertical line,” according to our textbook (The Cosmic Perspective). This precession occurs because of the fact that Earth’s equator bulges due to centrifugal force, thus attracting the Sun and the Moon and creating the wobble. [2] Earth’s precession cycle is around 25,800 years, which means that since that time, the zodiac has shifted one sign to the west (around 36 degrees). [3] This means that although I have always considered myself a Libra, it looks like I’m actually a Virgo! Do you all think this completely discredits astrology, or do you think there’s any truth to it? Feel free to discuss (and maybe even comment your sign for fun)!
