There’s an astrological debate going on.
Is the Earth’s wobble causing everyone to rethink their zodiac signs?
The New York Times recently published a story that said that since the zodiac signs were based on the stars and the stars have shifted over the eons, the zodiac sign you were born under may have also shifted.
The example the Times gave was “Sept. 9 is in Virgo because 2,000 years ago, this constellation was more or less behind the sun on that date.”
But now Leo is behind the sun on Sept. 9, the paper said.
One reason for the change is the wobble. The Earth wobbles like a top, and shifts the stars one degree every 72 years, as the Times said, “this difference builds up” over the centuries.
The Times also said that American zodiacs are based on the seasons, not the stars, while Indian astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, or the stars, taking into account the wobble.
Then you have different-sized constellations. Some are wider than others. The Babylonians also left out a constellation, the 13th one called Ophiuchus, possibly to match the 12 months of the year.
The “news” of the change isn’t new.
Space.com reported on it back in 2022, also citing the wobble, adding that astrological signs shifted by about a tenth of a year later than when they were established. But horoscopes don’t follow the shift, so they stuck with tradition rather than what appears in the sky.
The “Today” show reported in 2016 that NASA wrote a blog post almost a decade ago that talked about the changes, but acknowledged that, at NASA, they study astronomy, not astrology.
“We didn’t change any zodiac signs...we just did the math.“
NASA went further to remind readers of the definitions between the similar words:
"Astronomy is the scientific study of everything in outer space."
"Astrology, meanwhile, is something else. It’s the belief that the positions of stars and planets can influence human events. It’s not considered a science."
© 2025 Cox Media Group
Sign Up
