# Zodiac signs changed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543 "2011-01-14T01:15:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/1 "2011-01-14T01:15:48Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Gil-Martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Gil-Martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gil-Martin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/2 "2011-01-14T01:21:08Z")
Somebody emailed this to me today. It’s a start. Have a nice day. [http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2011/01/ophiuchus-new-zodiac-sign-dates-and-your-real-astrological-sign.html](http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2011/01/ophiuchus-new-zodiac-sign-dates-and-your-real-astrological-sign.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gil-Martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Gil-Martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gil-Martin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/3 "2011-01-14T01:22:36Z")
And I do wish I knew exactly how to pronounce \*Ophiuchus \*. . . help? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Doctor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/4 "2011-01-14T01:25:37Z")
Already running [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=592924) on this topic. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/5 "2011-01-14T01:32:29Z")
I’m still an Iron Monkey, and nothing’s gonna change that! ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/6 "2011-01-14T01:36:13Z")
> [@Gil-Martin](#): > > And I do wish I knew exactly how to pronounce \*Ophiuchus \*. . . help? I’m pronouncing it Oh-fee-uh-chus." U as in umbrella. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/7 "2011-01-14T01:37:48Z")
> [@Gil-Martin](#): > > And I do wish I knew exactly how to pronounce \*Ophiuchus \*. . . help? o-FEE-uh-kuss. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/8 "2011-01-14T01:51:00Z")
Well, first there’s [Precession.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession) Oh, you said you wanted terms you understood, well… [This might be a little better.](http://www.crystalinks.com/precession.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gil-Martin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Gil-Martin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gil-Martin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/9 "2011-01-14T02:30:55Z")
Thanks \*\*Daddypants \*\*and **pravnik**. I think I was more or less doing that, though with a southern accent. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/10 "2011-01-14T03:04:53Z")
Everybody who knows astronomy has known this since forever. John Varley did a book called [The Ophiuchi Hotline](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=136803). You’ll see this again in 2012, and 2022, and 2032, and every year in between and after. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/11 "2011-01-14T03:09:22Z")
So I’m now a Taurus? What a lot of bull. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/12 "2011-01-14T03:56:49Z")
> [@Gil-Martin](#): > > And I do wish I knew exactly how to pronounce \*Ophiuchus \*. . . help? Actually, if you go by the actual astronomical constellations, there are [14 constellations in the zodiac,](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,943321-1,00.html) 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.) ---
**Author:** ![medicated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@medicated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medicated)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/13 "2011-01-14T04:04:24Z")
> [@Gil-Martin](#): > > And I do wish I knew exactly how to pronounce \*Ophiuchus \*. . . help? It’s easier if you pronounce it ‘sajiterius’ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/14 "2011-01-14T04:22:24Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > . . . I’m told I’m no longer a Libra. You and me both. And what’s worse, it appears that I’ve lived my entire life as a Virgo. Just shoot me. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/15 "2011-01-14T08:19:07Z")
So I’m now a Taurus? That makes sense - I was always in two minds about being a Gemini. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/16 "2011-01-14T10:38:20Z")
Wikipedia agrees with me that it’s Oaf-ee-YOU-cuss. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/17 "2011-01-14T12:15:25Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Morgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Morgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgis)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/18 "2011-01-14T14:42:54Z")
I was curious why Scorpio only gets 6 days in the new system while the other signs cover nearly a month? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/19 "2011-01-14T15:14:05Z")
> [@Morgis](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543/20 "2011-01-14T17:09:14Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > So I’m now a Taurus? That makes sense - I was always in two minds about being a Gemini. I’ve turned into a [del]Virgin[/del] Virgo! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zodiac-signs-changed/567543.md?page=2)