NASA just recently rubbed astrological community the wrong side when they claimed that the position of astrological signs - alignment of stars with regards to a specific point in the sky at a certain time - has changed as Earth's axis has shifted from its earlier position over the centuries. As a result, many people and astrological scientists were visibly upset, forcing NASA to release an official explanation on their Tumblr account about how astrology is not an actual science.
The upheaval regarding NASA's revelation started with an article in a magazine claiming that NASA's article refutes has altered the current zodiac calendar. In fact, the correction made by NASA added another constellation, Ophiuchus, that is believed to be the 13th star sign.
The zodiacs were first invented 3000 years ago and since then, the Earth's position on its axis has shifted, causing the positions of constellations to change. It was also noted that the 13th constellation was deliberately removed by the Babylonians to maintain a 12-month calendar. As a result, the astrologers learnt to ignore the 13th constellation for thousands of years altogether, even though it existed the whole time.
According to the ancient Babylonians, they divided the earth into 12 parts that was evenly spaced at 30 degrees and followed the sun's movement, as it was believed to revolve around the Earth, back in the day. Zodiac signs were important to astronomers and astrologers as an early form of astronomic coordinate system, providing a comprehensive look into the night sky. However, by 17th century, when heliocentric model became known, astronomers gave up the old system but the astrologers began studying the movement closely, claiming to predict the future.
To this day, most people do not take the concept of astrological signs very seriously. However, there are still plenty of people who genuinely believe that the celestial movement in the night sky can somehow alter their future. Now that the constellations and their positions have reportedly shifted, it threatens an old belief system, especially for those who permanently marked their star signs in the form of tattoos or other such body arts.
To the worried believers, NASA explains that even though this shift will not have any impact on people's original zodiac signs, it still does not hold any predictive power as many believe. NASA's Tumblr post also noted, "So, we didn't change any zodiac signs, we just did the math."
