Zodiac Signs Said to Be Off by One Month

Those who fashion their lives by their horoscopes may be a little miffed by this one: All those signs are a month off, a British astronomer contends.

And all you Sagittarians, well, you’re actually Ophiuchians, and were born under the sign of the god of healing, the lost 13th constellation, says Jacqueline Mitton of the Royal Astronomical Society.

“The zodiac is constantly changing,” she said.

The debate highlights the differences between astronomers, scientists who study the heavens, and astrologers, who believe they can divine meaning from the movements of planets and stars.

The zodiac is an ancient star chart that was devised about 2,000 years ago by astrologers who used it to track the sun’s movement. Back then, astrologers divided the sky into 12 constellations of equal parts. But the time the sun actually spends in each varies from about a week in Scorpio to more than a month in Virgo, Taurus and Pisces, Mitton said.

And the dates fixed for each sign by astrologers also are no longer accurate because the Earth’s axis has moved, shifting the alignment of the calendar with the stars, she said.

But syndicated astrologer Sydney Omarr--whose horoscope predictions appear in many major newspapers across the country--said the zodiac that astrologers base their predictions on does not change.

“The zodiac is just the same as it has always been. It remains fixed and astronomists know that,” he said. “I have always used the zodiac for my predictions and will continue to do so.”

Mitton said that although astronomers have known of the zodiac’s inaccuracies for a long time, they have failed to convince astrologers.