Zodiac Signs Didn't Change

Hind Khoudary

Science

17th July 2020

"We didn’t change any Zodiac signs, we just did the math." (GettyImages)

The Claim

NASA has all of a sudden changed everyone's zodiac signs.

News posted on

Emerging story

A number of news articles suggested that NASA has changed everyone’s star signs. Websites claimed that NASA revealed how the Babylonians identified 13 constellations in the zodiac but ditched the star sign Ophiuchus as it didn’t fit perfectly with the earth’s rotation. The news led people to frantically post on social media that they have been following the wrong horoscopes. Social media users including celebrities expressed anger about the claim.

A new chart of zodiac signs also circulated between users, who used it to see their new sign.

Users expressed their solidarity with people who had their zodiac sign as a tattoo, sending them prayers.

Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar’s investigation finds that this is not the first time this story has been circulated. N ASA stated that the claims are false as it has made no change to the zodiac, and pointed out that astrology is different from astronomy. It explained that the 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 Scorpio for only 7 days. NASA added that 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.

“We didn’t change any Zodiac signs, we just did the math. The Space Place article was about how astrology is not astronomy, how it was a relic of ancient history, and pointed out the science and math that did come from observations of the night sky,” NASA spokesman Dwayne Brown said in 2016, according to Science Alert.