Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Wobbly Earth means your horoscope is wrong

  Astrological signs are determined by the position of the sun relative to certain constellations on a person's day of birth. The problem is, the positions were determined more than 2,000 years ago. Nowadays, the stars have shifted in the night sky so much that horoscope signs are nearly a month off. The shift is caused by precession, the wobble in the Earth's axis caused by the gravitational attraction of the moon to the Earth's equator. This means that as the Earth rotates, its axis swings in a circle, pointing in different directions. As it's position shifts, so does our perspective of the night sky.

 I don't think that the horoscopes being off is such a surprise. I mean, they were determined about 2,000 years ago and no one thought they should try to update them? If the sun, and the earth, and the stars are constantly moving doesn't it make sense that our perspective will probably change in some way over the past 2,000 years? Our astrological signs may have been off for 1,500 years, but nobody thought to check to see how much the Earth's changed angle had effected them. People shouldn't be suprised that they are off. Our perception of the night sky is never the same position, no matter what people think. Granted, I am not happy with this new information. I have always been a Taurus, and now suddendly find myself to be an Aries. I'm not sure what to make of myself with my horoscope. Even if, I have never followed my horoscope day to day, it is still a shock to find out you may not be what you think you always have been.

    Here are the real signs:
  • Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.
  • Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11.
  • Pisces: March 11-April 18.
  • Aries: April 18-May 13.
  • Taurus: May 13-June 21.
  • Gemini: June 21-July 20.
  • Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10.
  • Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16.
  • Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30.
  • Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23.
  • Scorpio: Nov. 23-29.
  • Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17.
  • Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41062376/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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1 comment:

  1. TheresaJanuary 20, 2011 at 3:19 PM

    This makes me sad. My whole life I have only known myself as a Libra. Now this foolish change has my entire being confused by transfiguring me into a Virgo. How am I supposed to identify with a whole new groups of zodiac mates that I have never been grouped with before?

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