Astronomers confirm the skies are changing
The announcement that astrology is out of alignment with the sky has amazed keen zodiac followers.
But the news is nothing new; apparently astrology has been out of date for years as far as astronomers are concerned.
Debate has erupted among astrologists after questionable reports emerged claiming birth dates corresponding to zodiac signs had changed.
According to Coonabarabran Astronomer Donna Burton, the story in a US newspaper that sparked the recent controversy merely brought out into the open what astronomers have known for some time; the skies above are changing.
“A year is the time the Earth takes to complete an orbit of the Sun” explained Donna. “From Earth, the Sun appears to move along the ecliptic (path) across the Zodiac constellations. But what actually moves over the course of years is Earth’s viewpoint of the Sun against a background of stars.”
The twelve well-known Zodiac constellations are all located along the ecliptic. The ancients referred these to as a seasonal guide. The Sun takes approximately a month to move across a Zodiac constellation to the next.
“According to astrology, the Sun is the star that determines your star-sign.”
The Sun appears to pass across the twelve Zodiac constellations during the cycle of a year. On your birthday, the Sun is at the same place in a particular Zodiac.
But whilst our Zodiac signs have stayed the same over the years, the Earth’s axis has changed due to a natural effect called precession.
Donna says that this means that our planet is now aligned with different stars than it was previously, meaning the zodiac signs should be different.
“Over thousands of year since the signs of the Zodiac were determined, the astrology calendar is now a month out of alignment and appears to have lost the plot with the actual location of the Sun in the Zodiac” added Donna.
The original astrology calendar indicated the dates or houses when the Sun moved in each Zodiac constellation.
The Sun rose in Aries at the March equinox, when the astrology calendar was devised over 2000 years ago.
This century, on the date of the March equinox, the Sun rises in Pisces at the zero degree co-ordinates. Due to precession, the astrology calendar and the zodiac star-sign dates are about a month out of sync with the location of the Sun.”
According to Donna, astrologers simply refer to an outdated astrology calendar; they do not check the sky.
No longer accurate
“Most people do not realize astrology is no longer as accurate as it used to be” continued Donna.
The priests of astrology in ancient times observed and reported what actually occurred in the sky. Astrologers were the first scientists, mathematicians and time-keepers and astronomers; they worked very hard to be accurate.
As long as astrologers continue to refer to the zodiac calendar, the further out of date and sync with the actual sky they become.
If you remember the song lyrics referring to the ‘dawning of the Age of Aquarius’, this applies to the constellation Aquarius. By the end of the next 300 years, Aquarius will move to the zero co-ordinates, when the Sun rises at the March equinox. At that time, the Age of Aquarius will be observed.
The Egyptians who built the pyramids 4,000 years ago, observed the Sun rising in Taurus at the March equinox. Jesus lived 2,000 years ago, in the Age of Aries. Today we live in the age of Pisces, watching the dawn of Aquarius.
Donna explains that the scientific explanation for these changes, called precession, causes a slow shift of the Zodiac constellations along the ecliptic by one degree every 72 years.
“Since the era when the zodiac calendar was devised over 2,000 years ago, the first point of Aries has shifted from the zero degree to RA 22 degrees” concluded Donna.
Now, in 2011, the Sun moves across Aries in April, not in March as the Zodiac calendar depicts. Overall, the zodiac constellations have shifted 22 degrees since they were initially plotted. The ancient Zodiac calendar is outdated due to precession.
Precession of the equinoxes is caused by gravitational forces of the Sun and the Moon on the Earth.
The period when a precession cycle is completed is 25,700 years and called ‘The Great Platonic Year’.
In 23,000 year’s time, the Sun will complete a full circuit across the Zodiac to rise in Aries at the time of the vernal equinox. When a Platonic year ends; a new one begins.
So what is your star sign…..does anybody really know?
Donna the Astronomer