Zodiac shift

We all heard about the shifted zodiac signs? Well, you may be interested (or not) to hear that the Pole Star at the time of the Pyramids was called Kochab, a minor star in the constellation of Ursa Minor. And even longer ago, it was Vega, the primary star in Lyra.

What happens is that the Earth wobbles around its axis in a cycle of about 23,000 years. This means that the axis will veer round over that period of time to point at a different part of the sky. In other words, there will be a different North Star over the millennia, see image below.



Apart from this perhaps obscure aspect of astronomy, it has had the astrologers in a tizz in recent times. Since the signs of the Zodiac were defined, the above described phenomenon has moved the apparent star signs round by one position. And someone has also ordained that there is now a 13th star sign, Ophiuchus (the Snake Bearer), which can be found near Scorpio. The sun moves into each star sign a month later than in the distant past. Fortunately, someone else has ordained that nothing has changed, so you can stick to your original star sign in your horrorscope, and your future has not changed.

If you Google about "Zodiac shift" you'll find some articles written in atrocious English.