In true Internet form, folks went up in a frenzy last week upon the National Aeronautics Space Administration's (NASA) "discovery" of a new zodiac sign called Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer. According to research, those born between November 29 and December 17 would now be considered Ophiuchus' and not Sagittarius' or Scorpios. As a result, the entire astrological calendar would shift.
Surprise surprise, panic ensued. That is, until NASA itself set the record straight on Twitter. "We see your comments about a zodiac story that re-emerges every few years," NASA wrote on the social media platform. "No, we did not change the zodiac."
The agency then linked to a Tumblr post dissecting the news and explaining that "the line from Earth through the sun points to Virgo for 45 days, but it points to Scorpius for only seven days." About 3,000 years ago, when the Babylonians discovered that the Earth orbits around the Sun which, in turn, passes through 13 constellations, they decided that—in order to have that number match their 12-month calendar—they would leave out a constellation, Ophiuchus. "Besides the 12 familiar constellations of the zodiac, the sun is also aligned with Ophiuchus for about 18 days each year," reads the blog post. That's really all NASA was trying to shed light upon.
All that aside, "astrology is not astronomy," writes NASA. Which is all to say that the agency has no intention to change your zodiac signs. Rest assured, Scorpios of the world, your horoscopes shall remain intact.
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