Can anyone explain whats going on I’m told I’m no longer a Libra. Not that it truly matters. I’ve never really understood the concept of zodiac signs anyhow.
So what’s the straight dope on this mumbo jumbo. They have a basis in actual astronomy and that’s now changed?
Anyone have a news article that explains this in terms I’ll understand?
Somebody emailed this to me today. It’s a start. Have a nice day.
And I do wish I knew exactly how to pronounce *Ophiuchus *. . . help?
Already running thread on this topic.
I’m still an Iron Monkey, and nothing’s gonna change that!
I’m pronouncing it Oh-fee-uh-chus." U as in umbrella.
o-FEE-uh-kuss.
Well, first there’s Precession.
Oh, you said you wanted terms you understood, well…
Thanks **Daddypants **and pravnik. I think I was more or less doing that, though with a southern accent.
Everybody who knows astronomy has known this since forever. John Varley did a book called The Ophiuchi Hotline set on a star in the constellation as an in-joke. This was in 1977 and he expected all good sf readers to pick up on it.
You could even search on the Dope and find bunches of references to it, the earliest I found being from 2002.
You’ll see this again in 2012, and 2022, and 2032, and every year in between and after.
So I’m now a Taurus? What a lot of bull.
Actually, if you go by the actual astronomical constellations, there are 14 constellations in the zodiac, including both Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer and Cetus the Sea Monster.
This article, from November 1970, also mentions the so-called “change” in the periods covered by the other signs that is being discussed today as if its a new idea. (Actually, I think I might have first read of both these ideas in this article.)
It’s easier if you pronounce it ‘sajiterius’ 
You and me both. And what’s worse, it appears that I’ve lived my entire life as a Virgo. Just shoot me.
So I’m now a Taurus? That makes sense - I was always in two minds about being a Gemini.
Wikipedia agrees with me that it’s Oaf-ee-YOU-cuss.
Lucky that we Aries don’t believe in astrology to begin with.
I seem to remember one of Asimov’s F&SF essays about the precession of the equinoxes and Ophiucus. This is old news to geeks.
I was curious why Scorpio only gets 6 days in the new system while the other signs cover nearly a month?
Not that I’ve paid any attention to this, but they are probably calculating the amount of time the Sun is actually within the defined boundaries of the constellation, instead of working from an even 12 or 13 part sectioning of the ecliptic.
I’ve turned into a [del]Virgin[/del] Virgo!