Ophiuchus: The 13th Zodiac

No one wants to hear that his or her zodiac sign is suddenly different or new after having his or her fates repeatedly decided in years of Buzzfeed quizzes and vague horoscopes. This displeasing occurrence sent the young public of America into panic mode when the 13th zodiac, Ophiuchus, was introduced. The big question that left everyone confused is: did my zodiac symbol change?

Why do we have zodiac signs? Dating back 3,000 years ago to the time of the Babylonians, the twelve-month calendar came about as the sun appeared to pass through each of the assigned 12 parts of the zodiac. Many people do not know however that there has always been a 13th zodiac in Babylonian history, between the months of Scorpio and Sagittarius. When this news was discovered in an article on the NASA website, chaos erupted and people suddenly became concerned about how the personality traits belonging to their astrological signs would be drastically different as they had to abandon the symbols that they have grown so accustomed to at the fault of social media.

Fortunately, a more recent NASA report claims that the zodiac signs have not, in fact, changed. Scientists at NASA make it clear not to confuse astronomy – the branch of science that studies space and the universe – with astrology – the study of celestial bodies having an effect on human interactions and the world, a.k.a., horoscopes. Horoscopes are not backed up by factual, scientific reasoning. The ancient Babylonians assigned the twelve parts of the zodiac to the calendar year, not including the mysterious constellation of Ophiuchus, but it has existed since the beginning.

What  else do we know about Ophiuchus? Its symbol is the serpent bear and if included in the twelve-part zodiac, it would represent people born between November 30 – December 17 because that is when it is most visible. Barnard’s star, the second closest star to Earth, is a part of Ophiuchus. This misunderstanding has definitely calmed down over the past few weeks, but to confirm the facts, the virgos of the world will not now be classified as leos.