How can the zodiac change

For the best user experience, enable javascript in your browser. Jump to main content. Well, first of all, if you want to refer to yourself as a Lupus or a Lyra, you have our permission. People develop affinities for various constellations, not just those included in the "zodiac. Zodiac constellations are those through which the Sun appears to travel during the year. Of course, this motion is illusory, as Earth revolves around the Sun and therefore the Sun's position relative to the background stars changes continuously.

Presently, the Sun appears to be migrating through Virgo the Maiden. At the end of October, the Sun will move into Libra the Scales. These thirteen constellations just happened to be aligned in such a way as to make the Sun appear to pass through them.

Over the course of 25, years, it will eventually return to Aries and the cycle will begin again. As a game, astrology and its predictions of fate and personality can be fun. However the subject has no basis in science. Astrology diverts attention away from the very real influences of the planets, primarily their gravitational effects on one another that cause real changes in the shapes, sizes and tilts of their orbits. On Earth, such changes likely caused past ice ages. Direct collisions between Earth and celestial bodies can cause very rapid changes, such as the impact of an asteroid off the Yucatan Peninsula 66 million years ago that had global effects including the disappearance of dinosaurs and the rise of mammals.

Astronomical studies will eventually allow the prediction of such events, while astrological predictions will get you absolutely nowhere. This story has been updated to correct the animal that Aries represents.

The chart has been updated to include Oct. Festival of Social Science — Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire. Edition: Available editions United Kingdom. Become an author Sign up as a reader Sign in. Kaler , University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Posts sharing the claim that NASA changed the zodiac to include a 13th astrological sign are false. NASA addressed the claim on its Twitter page, explaining that it did not change zodiac itself but included a sign that has been left out since Babylonian times.

Example posts can be seen here and here. NASA explained in a tweet posted on July 16, here , that it did not change the zodiac. No, we did not change the zodiac.

When the Babylonians invented the constellations 3, years ago, they chose to leave out a 13th sign.