Ophiuchus: The 13th Zodiac Sign

On By Indrajit Roy ChoudhuryIn Opinion

While most people probably make their important life decisions based on, oh I don’t know, common sense and things like that, there are a whole lot of people around the world who do take their star signs and horoscopes seriously, and with more than 25 percent of respondents in a recent survey calling astrology “very scientific”, there’s a big problem here.

NASA did some new calculations and determined there are actually 13 zodiac signs instead of 12, meaning that 86 percent of all people were actually born under a different sign! The 13th zodiac sign is Ophiuchus. It’s pronounced “oh-FEW-kuss.” Ophiuchus has been used in sidereal and Vedic astrology, but is not commonly practiced in the western astrology.

NASA clarifies on their blog that they study astronomy, not astrology. They didn’t change any zodiac signs, they just did the math. Astronomy is the scientific study of everything in outer space. Astronomers and other scientists know that stars many light years away have no effect on the ordinary activities of humans on Earth.

The constellation Ophiuchus falls along the ecliptic, the band of sky in which we find the Sun, Moon, and planets. The 12 constellations along the ecliptic are called the zodiacal constellations. Ophiuchus was not included in the zodiac because ancient astrologers considered the number 13 to be unlucky. But you still find solar system objects passing through Ophiuchus from time to time. The Sun itself lies among the stars of Ophiuchus from November 29 to December 17 each year, for example.

Ophiuchus

Ophiuchus lies directly opposite the constellation Orion on the celestial sphere. But Ophiuchus is no Orion. The constellation has no bright stars, and you need to expend a fair effort to imagine here a man holding a snake.

The Babylonians lived over 3,000 years ago. They divided the zodiac into 12 equal parts – like cutting a pizza into 12 equal slices. They picked 12 constellations in the zodiac, one for each of the 12 “slices.” So, as Earth orbits the sun, the sun would appear to pass through each of the 12 parts of the zodiac. Since the Babylonians already had a 12-month calendar (based on the phases of the moon), each month got a slice of the zodiac all to itself.

But even according to the Babylonians’ own ancient stories, there were 13 constellations in the zodiac. So they picked one, Ophiuchus, to leave out. Even then, some of the chosen 12 didn’t fit neatly into their assigned slice of the pie and crossed over into the next one.

When the Babylonians first invented the 12 signs of zodiac, a birthday between about July 23 and August 22 meant being born under the constellation Leo. Now, 3,000 years later, the sky has shifted because Earth’s axis (North Pole) doesn’t point in quite the same direction.

marc_astrology-enThe constellations are different sizes and shapes, so the sun spends different lengths of time lined up with each one. The line from Earth through the sun points to Virgo for 45 days, but it points to Scorpius for only 7 days.  To make a tidy match with their 12-month calendar, the Babylonians ignored the fact that the sun actually moves through 13 constellations, not 12. Then they assigned each of those 12 constellations equal amounts of time.

While this explanation should clear up any remaining confusion, NASA stresses one major point: Astrology is something else. It’s not science.

Zodiacal signs are of equal length whereas the zodiacal constellations are not equal in length. Whether or not you believe horoscopes are worthwhile, it seems Ophiuchus won’t be disrupting our astrological zodiac any time soon. 🙂

32 thoughts on “Ophiuchus: The 13th Zodiac Sign”

  1. हर्ष वर्धन जोग

    Never heard of this 13 th ..kuss! As it is 12 are more than sufficient to keep the world on boil.

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    2. Chad Smith

      It is so strange that they finally done the math , but I have a sun wheel I made in like the seven grade and it has 13 consolations on it so by my understanding someone just now figured that out , Just think if we had 13 months in a year that would explain the weird weather patterns we been having with all this rain and flooding going on around the year. But if I not mistaken that us the United States redesigned it down to 12 month to make more since of the consolation And the weather patterns. The Mayans Didn’t they do sacrifices in a certain Month of the year to celebrate there God like we celebrate Fourth of July .

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  3. Ha..ha..have to share this with my son who was already ridiculing astrology with the fact that the calculations based on stars, planets and constellations which are long dead or disappeared or have become super novas..now the world can fuss over ophichus!!!

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  12. estelea

    Very interesting ! I actually heard that from an Indian “Astrologist/astrologist” in Jaipur a long time ago. Since then I dont read my horoscope anymore 😉

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  13. Pingback: Ophiuchus, the 13th Zodiac sign | Home Business Ideas And Opportunities

  14. Tom

    Ophiuchus is the sign where ” nibiru ” is to come thru to destroy our solar system. They say the “archer shooting at Scorpion !” (Sag and Scorpio”) they i.e. the ancients Jupiter will be in Scorpio in Nov. Saturn is in Sag until Dec.

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  15. Pingback: #Ophiuchus, the 13th or [14th?] #Zodiac sign — Indrosphere #astrology #411 #sidereal – Ola Queen Bee of Astrology

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