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Changes in Zodiac Signs: new horoscope dates. Zodiac signs have shifted by a month What does it mean that zodiac signs have shifted

Natalia Barskaya, astrologer (interview)

"The signs of the Zodiac have shifted due to the displacement of the earth's axis - is this true"? - with this question we turned to the famous Israeli astrologer, as well as a consultant on astrology for the Israel Plus TV channel, Natalia Barskaya.

Recently, the Internet circulated the statement of an American astronomer from Minneapolis, Park Kunkle, that modern horoscopes contain an error associated with a gradual shift in the earth's axis. Thus, according to Park Kankla, the ecliptic shifted. According to the astronomer, in the zodiac circle today we should take into account not only the twelve signs of the Zodiac, but also the thirteenth - Ophiuchus. Is it so?

He discovered America... You know, there is an expression: there is an elderberry in the garden, and there is a man in Kyiv. What I mean is that the Ophiuchus sign was taken into account both during the times of the ancient Babylonians and today. What there is not and never has been is a connection between this zodiac sign and the displacement of the earth's axis. The latter, by the way, was also taken into account when compiling astrological tables, and also at all times.

Please note: twelve months, twelve signs of the Zodiac, twelve hours on the dial, twelve tribes of Israel. All of the above are links in one chain. Thus, just as the Levites do not have a land allotment in Israel, Ophiuchus also does not have its own place in the Zodiac. Just as the Levites are the chosen ones among the Jews, so people with accented Ophiuchus are considered special from the point of view of both ancient and modern astrologers. At the same time, Ophiuchus certainly exists, but not in the form of a separate sign, but in the form of degrees scattered throughout the zodiacal circle. For example, if a person was born under the auspices of Sagittarius, but with an accented Ophiuchus, the astrologer will say that this person is a Sagittarius with individual character traits inherent in the thirteenth sign, invisible in the Zodiac.

Thus, Ophiuchus and the displacement of the earth’s axis are incomparable concepts. It is clear?

Next... regarding the displacement of the earth's axis. Here is the same guy and the same elderberry. You know, it seems to me that these are purely Internet things that are akin to ongoing discussions of the coming “end of the world.” It seems that when there is nothing to write about, but it is necessary to write (and the main thing is not so much to write as to keep website traffic statistics up), speculative topics like “the end of the world,” for example, are brought to light. This is the same nature of non-professional publications on astrological topics. They, too, as a direct hit, guarantee an increase in the ratings of the crafty Internet resource.

So, the displacement of the earth's axis. Yes, of course - this is a law of nature, known to any schoolchild. The point of the vernal equinox will gradually mix, which is what the transition from one era to another is based on. Now, for example, we live at the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. We have already discussed this topic in these notes.

In this case, there is no need to get confused, but you just need to remember the knowledge about astronomy received in childhood, at least as part of the school curriculum. Each of us knows from an early age that in the solar system there are no constellations of the same size - they are all different. And it is unforgivable not to remember this.

Today, if astrology is studied in school, it is not in every school, so ignorance of its laws is quite legitimate.

- So why are the signs of the Zodiac the same, but the constellations of the same name are different?

Because the Zodiac is the same coordinate system as a watch dial. In a circle, including the zodiac - 360 degrees. Each degree in astrology has its own characteristic. There are also groups of signs in the Zodiac that have a certain package of similar characteristics. There are 12 of these groups, each with thirty degrees.

And the point is not that we call ourselves Sagittarius or Capricorn, because the Sun at the moment of our birth was in the constellation of the same name. Please do not confuse constellations with zodiac signs! We are Sagittarius, Capricorn or Aquarius only because during the passage of the Sun through the degrees of the Zodiac corresponding to these signs, people were born with psychological characteristics corresponding to the mythological images that in ancient times were attributed to one or another constellation.

Briefly speaking. In a nutshell, the constellation and the zodiac sign are two different people.

Both today and in ancient times, people knew that there were vibrations and displacements of the earth's axis. The main thing is that this became known long before the moment when a message from an astronomer from Minneapolis appeared on the Internet. A horoscope, I repeat, is not a projection of constellations onto the Zodiac circle, but a coordinate system created by man. This is a kind of clock or calendar.

The science that deals with determining the psychological portrait of a person, his inclinations, abilities, as well as options for the development of certain events in his life, is called astrology. The answers to the questions with which we turn to astrology are not related to the constellations, but to the recording of the movement of the planets through a man-made coordinate system called the Zodiac circle.

- Is it science? Are there elements of banal fortune telling in astrology?

The science. Of course, science! For, unlike a deck of cards or, for example, fortune telling on a ram bone, astrology relies on an accurate knowledge of the elements of the horoscope. There is no mysticism in astrology. Astrology is a system of knowledge that has a strict coordinate system. Fortune telling considers elements that appear by chance. The quality of a horoscope does not depend on the astrologer, while the card layout depends entirely on the fortune teller. In short... Astrology and fortune telling are the same elder and uncle.

© wikimedia.org

tochka.net is in a hurry to tell the whole truth about the information that has recently excited social networks.

But the whole point is that the media are disseminating information that according to NASA scientists, in particular astronomy professor Park Kankla, the sign system, based on information obtained several thousand years ago, is now significantly outdated.

The generally accepted structure of the zodiac circle, divided into 12 sectors and, accordingly, 12 constellations, is based on a system developed in Ancient Babylon. One of its main principles is that the Sun should be in the constellation on the birthday of every person who belongs to a given sign.

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But over many centuries, the orbit of the Earth’s movement gradually changed, as well as the position of the Sun at the time of human birth. And for those people who in our time are accustomed to trusting the stars and do not dare to take serious actions without looking at the horoscope, the zodiac calendar requires a clear upgrade and expansion.

From here, it seems to be a conclusion that the old zodiac system is unreliable, and modern zodiac signs have shifted by about a month relative to the dates indicated in the calendar. Therefore, the global reform of the astrological calendar from NASA involves changing the dates for all signs of the Zodiac. But that's not all the notes say.

Astronomers propose to introduce into use a new thirteenth sign of the Zodiac, which has the name ( Ophiuchus) - from the constellation of the same name. This is a fairly large but insignificant equatorial constellation located south of Hercules. One of the brightest stars in the constellation Ophiuchus is Ras Alhage.

Horoscope: dates of zodiac signs according to old and new calculations

© kgcode.akipress.org

So, how should the zodiac signs be placed according to the new horoscope? The zodiac signs by date of birth that are valid today are indicated in brackets:

  • Aries(March 21 - April 20): April 18 - May 13
  • Taurus(April 21 - May 21): May 14 - June 21
  • Twins(May 22 - June 21): June 22 - July 20
  • Cancer(June 22 - July 22): July 21 - August 10
  • a lion(July 23 - August 23): August 11 - September 16
  • Virgo(August 24 - September 23): September 17 - October 30
  • Scales(September 24 - October 23): October 31 - November 23
  • Scorpion(October 24 - November 22): November 24 - November 29
  • : (13th Zodiac sign) November 30 - December 17
  • Sagittarius(November 23 - December 21): December 18 - January 20
  • Capricorn(December 22 - January 20): January 21 - February 16
  • Aquarius(January 21 - February 18): February 17 - March 11
  • Fish(February 19 - March 20): March 12 - April 17

13th Zodiac sign: characteristics of Ophiuchus

© wikimedia.org

The new zodiac sign Ophiuchus falls on the last 5 days of Scorpio and the first 5 days of Sagittarius. Those. The 13th sign of the Zodiac covers birth dates between November 17th and November 27th and lasts for 10 days.

People born under the zodiac sign Ophiuchus receive great energy and intuitive potential. They have very developed inner strength and a sharp mind, striving to explore the deepest aspects of life. This means that it is Ophiuchus who are able to join the ranks of psychics, fortune tellers and even sorcerers.

Ophiuchus embodies the unity and at the same time the struggle of two primordial principles: black and white, light and darkness, good and evil, love and hatred, etc. The stars endow Ophiuchus with the obligatory presence of these two strongest tendencies. But only the representative of this sign himself can decide which of the forces should be chosen. The sign of Ophiuchus represents the liberation of a person and his exit from the circle of rebirths.

Is it true?

13 zodiac constellations, including Ophiuchus back in the 1st millennium BC, found by the inhabitants of Babylon. But the Babylonians decided to tie the constellation map to their calendar, which divided the year into 12 months, so they divided the zodiac into 12 sectors, crossing out Ophiuchus.

Indeed, now we can say that in the 3,000 years that have passed since the Babylonians compiled the zodiacal circle, there has been a shift in the zodiacal constellations, which is why now it looks a little different. Since the process is constant, adjustments will continue to occur in the future.

It should be noted that NASA has not made any changes to the astrological circle and does not consider astrology to be a science at all. NASA spokesman Dwayne Brown said the agency did not change the signs or reveal anything. It’s not that NASA did not propose to introduce a thirteenth zodiac sign, it stated that this sign has existed since ancient times.

And the whole fuss began due to an incorrect interpretation of a note from the children's educational project NASA Space Place, published back in January 2016.

The article tried to tell only that horoscopes cannot claim accuracy, since over the millennia the position of the earth’s axis relative to the constellations has changed.

In the first millennium BC. The inhabitants of ancient Babylon identified constellations in the sky that resembled animals and called them the Zodiac. At that time, people lived according to the lunar calendar, which meant only one thing: there were only 12 months in a year. Ancient astrologers considered it necessary to tie the Zodiac to the months so that they would patronize them. It’s a pity that there were 13 constellations, but the shamans of that time were not very upset; they simply excluded the extra one, Ophiuchus.

In September 2016, the media was shocked by amazing news - there are 13 zodiac signs in the horoscope. It was said that this theory was confirmed by NASA and panic immediately began among the masses, because now there would be a shift in the horoscope and real astrological forecasts could be considered invalid. Approximately 68% of people, when the thirteenth sign appears in the horoscope, will receive a different zodiac sign.

What really happened? In fact, NASA has never stated that a 13th constellation needs to be added to astrological forecasts. They believe that everything that astrology suggests is fundamentally wrong. After all, the constellations have long changed their position, and, accordingly, the dates. In addition, the Babylonians gave each sign an equal time of action in the year, although to be precise, the active zodiac is determined by the position of the Sun in the constellation. And it stays there for a relatively uneven amount of time. For example, the Sun is in Scorpio for 7 days, while in the constellation Virgo it is for 45 days.

All the rumors and misunderstandings arose from the fact that NASA released a children's encyclopedia, where they indicated that 3000 years ago ancient people discovered 13 constellations and listed them, indicating new dates for the Zodiac:

Zodiac sign

What date will it take effect?

Capricorn 20.01 – 16.02
Aquarius 16.02 – 11.03
Fish 11.03 – 18.04
Aries 18.04 – 13.05
Taurus 13.05 – 21.06
Twins 21.06 – 20.07
Cancer 20.07 – 10.08
a lion 10.08 – 16.09
Virgo 16.09 – 30.10
Scales 30.10 – 23.11
Scorpion 23.11 – 29.11
Ophiuchus 29.11 – 17.12
Sagittarius 17.12 – 20.01

The materials presented in the table show not only the time when Ophiuchus comes into force, but also the dates of the constellation’s activity according to how long the Sun is in them. Thus, the NASA table can be considered a reliable source of information about from what date this or that sign is valid. And if everything is generally known about other constellations in the horoscope, then many people do not even know about the existence of Ophiuchus.

Who is he - the mysterious Ophiuchus?

Ophiuchus (Ophiuchus from Greek, “carrying a snake in his hands”) is the 13th sign of the zodiac, which is not an established rule in the astrological teachings of the West. Astronomers say this constellation cannot be ignored, but astrologers insist that the absence or presence of Ophiuchus has no effect on making predictions. After all, the zodiac is nothing more than a 30-degree sector of the ecliptic, which is in no way connected with the constellations. As mentioned earlier, the Earth does not stand still, but constantly spins around its axis, and over 3000 years the signs of the zodiac have shifted by 24 degrees.

In the 1920s, as part of the summit of the International Astronomical Union, a complete list of constellations was compiled with a boundary established between them. Then it was noticed that the ecliptic line affects a small area of ​​the celestial sphere, which can be attributed to the constellation Ophiuchus. Somewhat later, astrologers began to notice the presence of this sign within the boundaries of the ecliptic, but they had no compelling reason to include it in the horoscope.

True, some astrologers say that since a sign falls within the ecliptic, it means there are good reasons to calculate the horoscope for its bearers. It is believed that people born between November 29 and December 17 are marked with the sign of Ophiuchus.

Perhaps Ophiuchus is the only constellation whose prototype was a real-life person - the healer Imhotep. This was the first doctor known to history who healed the sick with snake venom.

Ophiuchus does not have its own place in the zodiac circle. And those few days when Ophiuchus influences the destinies of people are called the “burnt path.”

There is even a legend that says that Phaeton, while driving a heavenly chariot, could not cope with the horses. They carried him across the sky. Phaeton was frightened by Scorpio and threw down the reins. The horses rushed to the Earth and began to destroy and burn everything. Then Gaia asked Zeus to destroy the fiery chariot. He struck with lightning, and the chariot scattered into small fragments around the constellation Scorpio.

And those born during this period follow in the footsteps of the heavenly chariot. They burn bridges behind them, or simply destroy everything, and then are reborn from the ashes.

Characteristics of those born under this sign

Ophiuchus are wanderers; they often move, meet new people and can find their own approach to everyone. Their life is a series of endless ups and downs. The description of the thirteenth constellation is a man with a serpent in his hands. In one hand he holds a golden snake, and in the other a silver one. This duality means that Ophiuchus embodies the flame of life and the cold of death.

Ophiuchus people look at the world carefree and enjoy life, although on the other hand they have a cold mind and are confident that there is nothing interesting in life.

For Ophiuchus, his life is a battlefield where there is only him and his problems, and everything depends only on his decision.

Another interesting fact (it is unknown whether it is true or not), but Pavel Globa assures that Ophiuchus can be not only someone who was born at a certain moment, but any other zodiac sign that has two planets at the end of the Scorpio sign and at the beginning of the Sagittarius sign, that are in the 8th and 9th houses. Then the fate of such a person will be similar to the fate of Ophiuchus. Ophiuchus is also distinguished by the fact that when everything in their life is smooth and goes as usual, at one moment everything collapses.

The characteristics of the date of birth of Ophiuchus are quite simple - this is a dual person who, on one side of the scale, has a devil-may-care attitude towards life, and on the other, a desire to live to the fullest.

Horoscope Ophiuchus. Man/woman – main characteristics and compatibility.

The lucky number of this sign is 12, the color is purple, and the element is water. Regarding the question of which stones are suitable, the undoubted leader is apatite.

The main character traits that these signs possess:

  • Wisdom.
  • Peacefulness.
  • Luck.
  • Daydreaming.
  • Determination.

He is trusted, loves his family and prefers bright colors in his clothes. Often has musical abilities and always strives for something new.

Positive aspects of personality:

  • Positive. Regardless of the contradictions that arise, Ophiuchus remains positive, possessing a subtle sense of humor.
  • Honest. Ophiuchus people do not like to waste time, so they do not waste time on lies.
  • Intellectual. It's quite rare for a zodiac to be smart and creative at the same time, but exceptions do happen.
  • Not prone to routine. Ophiuchus easily gets used to changes, they do not like when life is stagnant, but they prefer to accept the challenges of fate.
  • Well developed intuition. In any life situations they act as their heart tells them.
  • Charisma. Ophiuchus is charismatic and always strives to attract everyone's attention.
  • People with a rich imagination. Spurred by a competitive spirit, they willingly demonstrate their creativity.
  • Loves to win. Always strive for success in everything.
  • Stealth. Although Ophiuchus prefers to experience the world through feelings, they do not like to share these feelings with others

Negative aspects of personality:

  • Polygamy. This cannot be taken away from Ophiuchus. Actually, this is the main problem of finding a partner; no one will tolerate such an attitude.
  • Jealousy. As already mentioned, Ophiuchus is a paradoxical person, he is as jealous as he is polygamous.
  • Critical. Particularly if they try to hurt their feelings.
  • Irresponsible. For a rich imagination you have to pay, often with irresponsibility in some areas of life. It is much easier for Ophiuchus to create their own illusory world and not pay attention to what is happening around them.
  • Restlessness. Standing in one place for too long is not for him.
  • "After". Ophiuchus people dream with pleasure, but they can make their dreams come true later. By the way, this notorious “later” very often turns into “never”.
  • They leave near them only what is useful. In general, a good skill, but this also applies to connections with other people. If Ophiuchus does not need a friend who has been with him for a long time, he will leave him without regrets.

Compatibility with other signs is quite difficult to determine. Since Ophiuchus is “new” among the Zodiacs, compatibility can only be seen in general terms.

Another Ophiuchus may be compatible with Ophiuchus. They understand each other very well, and even accept and understand their shortcomings. An alliance with Capricorn will be harmonious. Capricorns are loyal, focused on career growth, have a developed intellect, and they will have something to talk about with Ophiuchus.

The most compatible with Ophiuchus are Pisces. No matter how strange it may sound, these signs have a lot in common. They are creative people who love to indulge in dreams, are adaptable and place great importance on their emotions. Relationships with Cancer and Libra will also develop harmoniously.

But Ophiuchus and Sagittarius will be out of luck, who will try to surpass the representatives of the new sign. Aquarians change their mood too often, which gets on the nerves of Ophiuchus. As for Aries, he, like Ophiuchus, is too impatient to achieve what he wants and resorts to aggression, while the “carrier of the snake” suppresses his impatience with an emotional “explosion”.

Taurus is too stable for the changeable Ophiuchus, so they will never be able to find a common language. Gemini is perhaps the only sign that can hurt Ophiuchus without doing anything special. Since Leos and Ophiuchus want the same thing, but in different forms, they will never reach a compromise. Virgos are too scrupulous, and Scorpios will simply strangle the monogamous Ophiuchus with their jealousy and sense of ownership.

Having appeared on the zodiac circle, Ophiuchus shifts all signs by month, but as recent studies show, this does not greatly affect astrological forecasts. Firstly, a representative of any zodiac sign can be born with the qualities of Ophiuchus, it all depends on the location of the planets. And secondly, the signs of the zodiac have long moved in orbit, but astrologers still calculate the future, paying attention only to the 30-degree sector of one of the twelve parts of the ecliptic zone. Whether Ophiuchus will be present in astrological forecasts or not is not so important, the main thing is to know that such a Zodiac exists and remember that it can extend its influence to any person.

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published an article in which scientists report that the position of the constellations has changed relative to the ecliptic of the Sun. Many publications, which, among other things, publish horoscopes, have written in this regard that the position of the zodiac signs has changed.

NASA SpacePlace explained that astronomy and astrology are completely different things that are often confused. Scientists also recalled that astrology is not a science, and the position of the stars cannot influence the destinies of people. Additionally, NASA has given a brief description of what the zodiac and zodiac constellations are.

The zodiac is a belt near the ecliptic along which the visible annual movement of the Sun occurs, as well as the sequence of sections into which this belt is divided.

The Sun moves almost strictly along the ecliptic, and different constellations periodically shift north or south of the ecliptic. The ecliptic passes through 13 constellations: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces and Ophiuchus, but they decided to ignore the last one for convenience. When the Earth, the Sun and the constellation are approximately on the same imaginary line, then astrologers believe that at that time “the Sun is in such and such a constellation.”

At a time when fundamental science did not yet exist, astronomers tried to find some kind of pattern and associated various signs in the starry sky with the imaginary location of the Earth and the Sun.

The concept of the zodiac and zodiac constellations was introduced in Babylon approximately 3000 years ago. Since Babylon used a 12-month calendar based on the phases of the moon, it was very convenient to divide the zodiac into 12 equal parts that correspond to the months.

According to Babylonian sources, they numbered 13 zodiacal constellations, so one had to be abandoned for convenience. But even after this, some of the selected dozen did not fit well into the allotted 1/12th of the year and went beyond their segment. For example, the Sun passes against the background of the constellation Virgo for 45 days, against the background of Scorpio - 7 days, against the background of Ophiuchus - 18 days. All this was simplified, and Ophiuchus was thrown out altogether.

After 3,000 years, the picture has changed a little more. The fact is that when the Earth rotates, precession of the Earth's axis is observed with a period of 25,800 years. This means that our planet changes its position relative to the zodiac constellations throughout the calendar year.

Now the portals that compile horoscopes have published a new table of horoscope signs by dates for 2016.

New table of zodiac signs:

Capricorn: January 20 - February 16
Aquarius: February 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 - August 10
Leo: August 10 - September 16
Virgo: September 16 - October 30
Libra: October 30 - November 23
Scorpio: November 23 – November 29
Ophiuchus: November 29 – December 17
Sagittarius: December 17 - January 20

NASA SpacePlace notes that corrections for precession will not change the accuracy of horoscopes - it will remain zero as it was.

“An influential international group of astronomers demanded a radical reform of the traditional division of the celestial sphere and the introduction of an additional, thirteenth, zodiac sign. The BBC reports this. The sign has already received the name Ophiuchus - after the constellation of the same name.” Similar news has been flooding the world media for several days now, including Russian ones. The science department invites its readers to figure out where this news came from and how relevant it is.

According to the definition of the Great Encyclopedic Dictionary, the zodiac belt (the name “zodiac” comes from the Greek zoon - “animal”) is a set of zodiacal constellations located along the ecliptic, the large circle of the celestial sphere along which the Sun makes its visible path throughout the year. The identification of this belt on the celestial sphere as the place through which the visible path of the Sun, Moon and planets pass occurred several thousand years ago in ancient Babylon. At the same time, the signs of the zodiac appeared, which were named after the constellations through which the belt then passed: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. The reason for this was the observed fact that the zodiac belt passes through 12 constellations, each of which in angular size occupies approximately 30 degrees, that is, 1/12 of the circumference.

By now the picture has changed somewhat. First of all, this was influenced by the precession of the earth's axis.

If you launch a top, you will notice that its axis of rotation will quickly tilt and describe a cone. The same thing happens with planet Earth: under the influence of external influences, primarily the Moon, its rotation axis describes a cone with a period of 26,000 years. At the same time, the angle of inclination of the Earth’s rotation axis to the plane of the planet’s orbit remains, to a first approximation, unchanged – about 23.5 degrees.

Because of this effect, which is called the precession of the earth's axis, the appearance of the starry sky observed in certain places changes over time.

For example, in a few thousand years in the middle latitudes of the northern hemisphere the constellations Orion and Canis Major will no longer be visible, but the Southern Cross will become visible. Six thousand years ago, Cassiopeia could be seen in the Southern Hemisphere, and after another six thousand years, Ursa Major will become visible there. Accordingly, the brightest star of the constellation Ursa Minor (Polar) will no longer be located near the celestial pole, that is, with the projection of the Earth’s rotation axis onto the celestial sphere. In the fifth millennium AD, the celestial pole will leave the constellation Ursa Minor and move to the constellation Cepheus.

The modern boundaries of the 88 constellations into which the starry sky is divided were approved in 1922 in Rome by the decision of the First General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union. In the corresponding list there was also a place for the ancient constellation Ophiuchus, which was mentioned in the “Almagest” of Claudius Ptolemy (this classic work, which appeared in 140 AD, summarizes the full range of astronomical knowledge of Greece and the Middle East of that time).

Ophiuchus on the celestial sphere is located between the constellations Scorpio and Sagittarius, and the ecliptic, and with it the zodiac belt, are positioned so that the Sun is in the constellation Ophiuchus for about 20 days, and in the constellation Scorpio for literally several days.

This fact is well known to anyone who is just starting to study astronomy. Only it was not taken into account when dividing the zodiac belt into twelve constellations in Ancient Babylon, probably because then the constellation Ophiuchus did not have the clear boundaries that it has now. Therefore, the news that there is a 13th zodiac sign is outdated. In addition, as a result of precession, the Sun now arrives in the zodiacal constellations with a delay of approximately one month (which, by the way, is completely ignored by astrologers). So, it is wrong to assume that people born, for example, from March 21 to April 21, were all born under the sign of Aries (as astrologers do), because currently the Sun is in this constellation in the period from April 18 to May 13.

The current fuss in the world media flared up in connection with an interview by Park Kunkle, an astronomy teacher at one of the technical colleges in Minneapolis, to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. In this interview, he talked about precession, the 13th sign, the shift of the Zodiac signs by one month and the misconceptions of astrologers. This interview caused a strong public outcry. Park Kunkle and the newspaper received a lot of feedback: some people were happy that they were now Geminis and not Cancers, others assured that “as they were Leos, they will remain so, because they have a tattoo in the form of a Leo.” The BBC made a material about this situation, which also contains nothing but a story about Kunkle’s interview and where the 13th zodiac sign came from.

For some reason, this material became the reason for the media, including Russian ones, to write about an “influential international group of astronomers” that demands a “reform of the division of the celestial sphere.”

“As a professional astronomer, I was quite surprised both by the news itself and by the violent reaction of the media to it,” said Oleg Ugolnikov, senior researcher at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences. – Actually, there is no news here. Constellations (including zodiacal) and zodiacal signs are a convention invented by people many centuries ago for their own convenience - drawing up a calendar, orienting themselves in the starry sky, etc. It so happened that there were 13 constellations along which the Sun moves, and signs 12 were introduced - obviously, based on the number of months. I emphasize that all this has been known for a long time, and not just yesterday.

This is a historical tradition. Each person now, with a strong desire, can introduce for himself his own signs, his own constellations, his own calendar and use them as he pleases.

This will have nothing to do with astronomical science. An attempt to present this now as a scientific sensation is obviously not the most successful PR move, an attempt to attract attention.”