A capsule of the 'new signs" based on the precession of the Earth.
Parke Kunkle trying to explain about why the original stellar configurations have altered.
Parke Kunkle trying to explain about why the original stellar configurations have altered.It seems all the vapid social networks are abuzz with the word that all the standard astrological signs have "changed". Evidently this astounding "news" (which is actually over 2,000 years old) caught all our illustrious countrymen who assiduously follow their signs flat-footed. They've bombarded the net trying to gain some answers, including from the astronomy prof who apparently started it all, Parke Kunkle, in his interview with The Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
In the interview Kunkle had explained that the Earth's "wobbly orbit" meant it was no longer aligned with the original stars and signs of the zodiac. This meant, Kunkle went on, that when astrologers claim the Sun is in Pisces, it is really in Aquarius and so on. Thus each putative sign is actually re-configured to the one preceding it.
Kunkle- from his office at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, went on to say:
"Astronomers have known about this since about 130 B.C. This is not news. Almost every astronomy class talks about it."
True!
However, as newsy as this was to the astrologically-inclined (but astronomically uninformed), I actually noted this phenomenon in one of my first blogs - from September, 2007:
http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2007/12/astrology-astronomys-specious-sister.html
As I noted:
"Astrology is based on star configurations two thousand years old, which no longer exist but are treated as if they do! You see, dear reader, there is this very slow process called precession. Anyone who has ever played with a toy gyroscope would have noticed how the axis made a large loop as the gyroscope wobbled.
The Earth acts the same way: like a giant, spinning top. It takes much longer, however, because it is vastly bigger than a toy gyroscope. The whole process for the Earth requires about 25,800 years to go through one complete cycle. Because the polar axis points at different areas of the sky over this time, it means that there is also a continual change in the position of the equinoxes. (These are the points in the sky where the Sun is located on the first day of Spring: March 20 or 21 for the Vernal Equinox, or the first day of autumn: September 22 or 23 for the Autumnal Equinox).
The Vernal Equinox is called the "first point of Aries" by astrologers, since it was originally in that sign two thousand years ago. The problem is that the Vernal Equinox no longer is located in Aries, but in the adjacent constellation/sign: Pisces! In the two thousand years since the Sun signs were devised, the Earth's axis has precessed out of the original alignment, and with it the equinoxes! This means that each of the other eleven so-called Sun signs used in horoscopes is out by the same amount: one entire Sun sign. For consistency, all present day birthdays need to be re-calibrated to the preceding sign"
Hopefully, after the social networking astrology clan gets over their collective shock, they'll spend a little less time hobnobbing on Facebook and more in a library (or using Google) to learn more about the oldest science: astronomy!
In the interview Kunkle had explained that the Earth's "wobbly orbit" meant it was no longer aligned with the original stars and signs of the zodiac. This meant, Kunkle went on, that when astrologers claim the Sun is in Pisces, it is really in Aquarius and so on. Thus each putative sign is actually re-configured to the one preceding it.
Kunkle- from his office at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, went on to say:
"Astronomers have known about this since about 130 B.C. This is not news. Almost every astronomy class talks about it."
True!
However, as newsy as this was to the astrologically-inclined (but astronomically uninformed), I actually noted this phenomenon in one of my first blogs - from September, 2007:
http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2007/12/astrology-astronomys-specious-sister.html
As I noted:
"Astrology is based on star configurations two thousand years old, which no longer exist but are treated as if they do! You see, dear reader, there is this very slow process called precession. Anyone who has ever played with a toy gyroscope would have noticed how the axis made a large loop as the gyroscope wobbled.
The Earth acts the same way: like a giant, spinning top. It takes much longer, however, because it is vastly bigger than a toy gyroscope. The whole process for the Earth requires about 25,800 years to go through one complete cycle. Because the polar axis points at different areas of the sky over this time, it means that there is also a continual change in the position of the equinoxes. (These are the points in the sky where the Sun is located on the first day of Spring: March 20 or 21 for the Vernal Equinox, or the first day of autumn: September 22 or 23 for the Autumnal Equinox).
The Vernal Equinox is called the "first point of Aries" by astrologers, since it was originally in that sign two thousand years ago. The problem is that the Vernal Equinox no longer is located in Aries, but in the adjacent constellation/sign: Pisces! In the two thousand years since the Sun signs were devised, the Earth's axis has precessed out of the original alignment, and with it the equinoxes! This means that each of the other eleven so-called Sun signs used in horoscopes is out by the same amount: one entire Sun sign. For consistency, all present day birthdays need to be re-calibrated to the preceding sign"
Hopefully, after the social networking astrology clan gets over their collective shock, they'll spend a little less time hobnobbing on Facebook and more in a library (or using Google) to learn more about the oldest science: astronomy!
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