People think their star signs have changed and everyone is losing it

15 July 2020, 14:16

Is there a new zodiac sign? Ophiuchus explained
Is there a new zodiac sign? Ophiuchus explained. Picture: sarayut Thaneerat via Getty, E!

By Katie Louise Smith

Is there a new star sign? Talk about the 13th zodiac sign, Ophiuchus, is back again and everyone is freaking out.

Over the past 24 hours, the timeline has been awash with people freaking out about the fact that they might now have a completely different zodiac sign. The panic is all thanks to a resurfaced blog post from NASA that explains how there's an 'extra' zodiac sign that isn't included in the Western astrology system.

So, what exactly is going on? Is there a new star sign now? The existence of the 13th zodiac sign is not new; people have been talking about Ophiuchus for years now (the blog post is literally from 2016) and uh, no, NASA did not just "add" or "change" the star signs.

The zodiac was divided into 12 equal parts by the Babylonians over 3000 years ago. However, as NASA writes, "according to the Babylonians' own ancient stories, there were 13 constellations in the zodiac. (Other cultures and traditions have recognised as many as 24 constellations in the zodiac.)"

READ MORE: You've been reading your star sign wrong this whole time

Based on the Babylonian's system, the Sun is aligned with Ophiuchus for about 18 days each year. But in order to make them fit equally into the Earth's orbit and the 12-month calendar system, they decided to leave it out.

via GIPHY

Does this mean our star signs have changed now?

Well... no, they haven't. NASA hasn't "unearthed" or "added" a new sign either. An article on New Scientist explains this further.

In the blog post, NASA writes that astrology (zodiacs and all that) and astronomy (actual scientific study of stars and constellations) are completely different. Scientifically, the shift of the Earth's axis means that our star signs could be very different. As the sky has shifted over time, the Sun now aligns with the constellations at different points.

Astrologically, however, they're pretty much the same, as that system has not been altered.

But if you want to factor the inclusion of Ophiuchus into the zodiac system, your "new" star sign would be:

Capricorn: January 20th - February 16th

Aquarius: February 16th - March 11th

Pisces: March 11th - April 18th

Aries: April 18th - May 13th

Taurus: May 13th - June 21st

Gemini: June 21st - July 20th

Cancer: July 20th - August 10th

Leo: August 10th - September 16th

Virgo: September 16th - October 30th

Libra: October 30th - November 23rd

Scorpio: November 23rd - November 29th

Ophiuchus: November 29th - December 17th

Sagittarius: December 17th - January 20th

via GIPHY

What are the Ophiuchus traits?

The Ophiuchus constellation sits between Scorpio and Sagittarius in the zodiac, based on the constellations.

According to earthsky.org, if your birthday falls between the end of November and mid-December, this is when the Sun passes in front of the constellation.

While it's still not considered a zodiac sign, Zodiac Books says that Ophiuchus represents unity. People born in this time frame are "spirited, magnetic, impulsive, clever, flamboyant, and at times jealous, power-hungry, and temperamental." It's very similar to the traits of Sagittarius.

Oh, and apparently they have a natural affinity for snakes. The symbol of Ophiuchus is a "serpent bearer".

READ MORE: QUIZ: What star sign to you really belong to?