According to astrology, the period of the year which each sign of the zodiac dominates is determined by the time in which the Sun is "in" its corresponding constellation. For that reason, it is not actually possible to observe a zodiacal constellation in the night sky during the time its sign is dominant.
Instead, look for your constellation in the exact opposite time of the year. For example, Sagittarius is designated as from November 22 to December However, if you want to observe Sagittarius, you will have to wait until Summer to see it.
Instead, spend your observing time viewing Taurus. It is a shame that many people cannot distinguish the words Astronomy and Astrology as used in the English language. From a merely logical point of view, the name of the science which studies the material universe beyond the earth's atmosphere should be named astrology, and thus be consistent with such words as biology, ecology, and the names of other sciences.
However, language is not science, and is often not logical. The correct term is astronomy, and we should all strive to make a distinction between astronomy and astrology in general conversation. When misunderstandings about word usage come up, the best course of action is to check the dictionary and look up the etymology or history of the words in question.
According to Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, astronomy was a word that was first used in the Middle ages. Astro- means "stars" and -nomy means "measurement", "distribution" or "arrangement. Thus Astronomy is the arrangement of the stars. Thus Astrology means Knowledge from the Stars. The dictionary definition of Astrology is "the study of the stars in an attempt to determine their influence on human affairs.
Of course, in our time, Astronomy is a science and Astrology is fortune telling. Gemini May 21 - June 21 Gemini the Twins is a Winter constellation, and can be best viewed in the night sky during the month of January. Cancer June 22 - July 22 Cancer the Crab is a Winter Constellation, and can be best viewed in the night sky during the month of February.
Leo July 23 - Aug. Help support the development of the Constellation Home Page.
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Become a member of the American Association of Amateur Astronomers. Scorpio is represented by The Scorpion, which is based on Scorpius — a giant scorpion in Greek mythology sent by Gaia to kill Orion.
Scorpio is part of the Eighth House — Mors Death , known today as the House of Reincarnation — and is associated with the element of Water. Traditionally, the ruling celestial body of Scorpio was Mars, but has since become Pluto. The Scorpius constellations includes many bright stars, the brightest being Alpha Scorpii aka.
The Scorpius constellation, due to its position within the Milky Way , contains many deep-sky objects. The constellation is also where the Alpha Scorpiids and Omega Scorpiids meteor showers take place. The Alphas begin on or about April 16th and end around May 9th, with a peak date of most activity on or about May 3rd.
The second meteor shower, the Omega or June Scorpiids peaks on or about June 5th of each year. The radiant for this particular shower is closer to the Ophiuchus border and the activity rate on the peak date is high — with an average of about 20 meteors per hour and many reported fireballs.
This symbol is based on the centaur Chiron, who according to Greek mythology mentored Achilles in the art of archery. Nunki is the oldest star name currently in use, having been assigned by the ancient Babylonians, and thought to represent the sacred Babylonian city of Eridu.
This is actually two star systems that share the same name, and both stars are actually discernible to the naked eye. The Milky Way is at its densest near Sagittarius, since this is the direction in which the galactic center lies. Consequently, Sagittarius contains many star clusters and nebulae.
This includes Messier 8 the Lagoon Nebula , an emission red nebula located 5, light years from Earth which measures by 60 light years. Though it appears grey to the unaided eye, it is fairly pink when viewed through a telescope and quite bright magnitude 3. The central area of the Lagoon Nebula is also known as the Hourglass Nebula, so named for its distinctive shape.
This nebula is fairly bright magnitude 6.
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NGC , a star forming region, is also associated with Sagittarius, located about light-years from Earth and showing both emission and reflection regions blue and red. This sign is based on Enki, the Sumerian primordial god of wisdom and waters who has the head and upper body of a mountain goat, and the lower body and tail of a fish.
Capricorns are associated with the element Earth, and the ruling body body is Saturn. Deneb Algedi is a eclipsing binary star with a magnitude of 2.
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Its primary is a yellow-hued giant star of magnitude 3. Another visible star is Gamma Capricorni aka. Several galaxies and star clusters are contained within Capricornus. This includes Messier 30 NGC a centrally-condensed globular cluster of magnitude 7. Located approximately 30, light-years from our Sun, it cannot be seen with the naked eye, but has chains of stars extending to the north that can be seen with a telescope.
And then there is the galaxy group known as HCG 87 , a group of at least three galaxies located million light-years from Earth.
It contains a large elliptical galaxy, a face-on spiral galaxy, and an edge-on spiral galaxy. The constellation of Capricornus has one meteor shower associated with it. The Capricornid meteor stream peaks on or about July 30th and is active for about a week before and after, with an average fall rate is about 10 to 30 per hour.
In ancient Greek mythology, Aquarius is Ganymede, the beautiful Phrygian youth who was snatched up by Zeus to become the cup-bearer of the Gods. Traditionally, the ruling celestial body of Aquarius was Saturn, but has since changed to Uranus.
While Aquarius has no particularly bright stars, recent surveys have shown that there are twelve exoplanet systems within the constellation as of Gliese , one of the nearest stars 15 light-years , was the first red dwarf start to be found to have a planetary system — which consists of four planets, one of which is a terrestrial Super-Earth.
Aquarius is also associated with multiple Messier objects. M2 NGC is located in Aquarius, which is an incredibly rich globular cluster located approximately 37, light-years from Earth. So is the four-star asterism M73 which refers to a group of stars that appear to be related by their proximity to each other. Aquarius is also home to several planetary nebulae.
NGC , also known as the Helix Nebula, is located at a distance of about light years away, making it the closest planetary nebula to Earth. There are five meteor showers associated with the constellation of Aquarius. The Southern Iota Aquarids begin around July 1st and end around September 18th, with the peak date occurring on August 6th with an hourly rate of meteors average.
The Northern Iota Aquarids occur between August 11th to September 10th, their maximum peak occurring on or about August 25th with an average of meteors per hour. The Southern Delta Aquarids begin about July 14th and end around August 18th with a maximum hourly rate of peaking on July 29th.
The peak date occurs on or around August 13th with a maximum fall rate of about 10 meteors per hour. Then there is the Eta Aquarid meteor shower, which begins about April 21th and ends around May 12th. It reaches its maximum on or about May 5th with a peak fall rate of up to 20 per hour for observers in the northern hemisphere and perhaps 50 per hour for observers in the southern hemisphere.
Last, there is the March Aquarids, a daylight shower that may be associated with the Northern Iota Aquarid stream. This symbol is derived from the ichthyocentaurs — a pair of centaurian sea-gods that had the upper body of a male human, the lower front of a horse, and the tail of a fish — who aided Aphrodite when she was born from the sea.
The ruling celestial body of Pisces is traditionally Jupiter, but has since come to be Neptune. Located light years from Earth, this star produces times more than light than our own Sun and is believed to be 60 million years old.
The brightest star in the constellation, Eta Piscium , is a bright class B star that is located years away from our Solar System. Van Maanen 2 a white dwarf that is located about 14 light years from our Sun, making it the third closest star of its kind to our system after Sirius B and Procyon B.
Gamma Piscium is a yellow-orange giant star located about light years away, and is visible with just binoculars. The Pisces constellationis also home to a number of deep-sky objects.
These include M74 , a loosely-wound spiral galaxy that lies at a distance of 30 million light years from our Sun. It has many clusters of young stars and the associated nebulae, showing extensive regions of star formation.
Last, there the active galaxy and radio source known as 3C Located at a distance of million light-years from Earth, this galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center.
In addition to being the source of its radio waves, this black hole is also responsible for creating the massive jets that extend several million light-years in both directions from its center — making them some of the largest objects in the universe.
There is one annual meteor shower associated with Pisces which peaks on or about October 7 of each year. The Piscid meteor shower has a radiant near the Aries constellation and produces an average of 15 meteors per hour which have been clocked at speeds of up to 28 kilometers per second.
As always, the meteoroid stream can begin a few days earlier and end a few days later than the expected peak and success on viewing depends on dark sky conditions. Currently, the Vernal Equinox is currently located in Pisces. In astronomy, equinox is a moment in time at which the vernal point, celestial equator, and other such elements are taken to be used in the definition of a celestial coordinate system.
Due to the precession of the equinoxes, the Vernal Equinox is slowly drifting towards Aquarius. Astrology is a tradition that has been with us for thousands of years and continues to be observed by many people and cultures around the world.
Today, countless people still consult their horoscope to see what the future has in store, and many more consider their birth sign to be of special significance.
But this goes to show how some cultural traditions are so enduring, and how people still like to ascribe supernatural powers to the universe.
We have a complete guide to all 88 constellations here at Universe Today. We also have a comprehensive list of all the Messier Objects in the night sky. Astronomy Cast also has an episode on Zodiac Signs — Episode You forgot to mention MY sign! I am a Scorpion in Western culture, a Hummingbird in Nat.
American astrology and a Snake in the Chinese! The article covers Scorpius. As for the other traditions, this was about western astrology. Native American and Chinese are something that will have to wait for another day. The reason why they wanted to find out how those dots on the sky moved, was in order to make better horoscopes. At least until about years ago.
Zodiac Signs and Astrology Signs Meanings and Characteristics
Astronomy was founded, thousands of years ago, as a technology to improve the horoscopes. We have not come so far as we want to believe, when it comes to the fundamental questions. SETI has gotten nowhere since then. True, but astrology has since grown to become an entirely distinct field from astronomy.
And this is a science website, so while such connections are acknowledged, they are not emphasized. And we could trade with them in profit!? I think that astronomy today should recognize astrology for what it once was, the reason for astronomy to become.
Not just short sightedly rank down on whatever fraudsters today who falsely predict their fools future.
When astrology is taken seriously and is investigated scientifically, then you invent astronomy. That was how it happened. We no longer see our destiny among the stars. Space has been reduced to a video game. We should begin with the wonder and awe of humankind. And the strange urge to understand it all, why and how we could ever do that, we just take it for granted.
Also, it seems you meant to edit your first comment, but ended up posting it twice fyi. Since the Apollo program ended, we have created Mir and the ISS space stations, sent numerous satellites and probes to the inner and outer solar system, explored Mars with robotic rovers, and are planning manned missions to an asteroid and Mars within the next 15 years.
And thanks to Kepler and other exoplanet hunters, we have discovered over planets orbiting distant and nearby stars to date. Any perceived standstill, which can only be attributed to the lack of mission comparable to Apollo 11, is the result of budgets, not interest in astrology.
And that is something any historian worth their degree will tell you. Also, though astrology and astronomy were once considered one and the same, it was because the distinction that would come to be drawn between science and the occult did not yet exist.
Saying it is the reason for astronomy is like saying that Biblical scholarship is responsible for modern history, or the desire to investigate the Deluge Myth is responsible for geology. While there is a clear connection one might even say a genealogy to be acknowledged, that does not mean we should invest interest in something that is effectively obsolete.
Nor does it even begin to suggest that embracing an outmoded way of thought would help advance what has become a separate and distinct scientific field today. Not only is astrology based in superstitious thinking that does nothing to advance our interest or our knowledge of the universe, its not even accurate as this article shows.
Astrology is based on what people once considered to be their reality, but which is no longer relevant. This knowledge could benefit you. The first and the best astronomers were astrologers!
Do you try to deny that fact? That something better grew from something worse. Simply because people live by making things work.