Astrology: There's a new sign in town, baby
 

Well not really. The interloper Ophiuchus who falls at Nov. 29- Dec. 17 is not really new. That sign's been around for a while.

Some scientists and astrologers are claiming that we should be using these dates for the signs of the Zodiac.

• Capricorn: Jan. 20 - Feb. 16
• Aquarius: Feb. 16 - March 11
• Pisces: March 11- April 18
• Aries: April 18- May 13
• Taurus: May 13- June 21
• Gemini: June 21- July 20
• Cancer: July 20- Aug. 10
• Leo: Aug. 10- Sept. 16
• Virgo: Sept. 16- Oct. 30
• Libra: Oct. 30- Nov. 23
• Scorpio: Nov. 23- Nov. 29
• Ophiuchus: Nov. 29- Dec. 17
• Sagittarius: Dec. 17- Jan. 20

So I've been asked what this means. Does it mean your formerly compatible lover just grew a 2nd head (no not that one you perverts. FOCUS)? Does it mean everything you thought you knew about yourself is wrong?

Probably not. We are more than our sun sign. We are complicated puzzles astrologically speaking.

In normal astrology, there are twelve houses, twelve signs and 10 planets. Unless you add Chiron...
Take away Pluto...
Add in the asteroids...
And now this...this Ophiuchus-The Serpent.

Is it me or does he have a might anaconda, Rhonda?

I digress. This addition, if you accept it, means that your sun sign might change. Mine did. I went from emotionally flaky Pisces to mentally flaky Aquarius. LOL Probably my other signs moved around too so maybe I'm not an Aquarius Rising.

For me, I'll muddle on as I have. Pluto is still a planet. Chiron is the Wanderer. The Asteroids are intriguing and this new kid in town? This Ophiuchus? He can hang out. I'll have to see how I feel about him down the road. I won't be adding him to my Tarotscopes...yet.

I read about this on HuffPost and to be honest, have no idear if it means that I'm no longer Aries or if I'm rather fishy now.

Oh hell no! I refuse to be a Pisces! :fastdraq:

Berry Interesting....
 

So how will the characteristics of this new sign be determined?

For that matter, how were all the others?

I like fish :cheesy:

Hell yes, Pluto is still a planet.
 

Okay, so I used to be an Aries (with a ton of Pisces in my chart)....now I'm a Pisces. *shrug*

Works for me. :)

So I went to the link, and see I AM still the me that fit into this :
Capricorn Information for January 4
You should embrace:
Freedom, precision, gratitude

You should avoid:
Transgressions, irreverence, pessimism

January 4 Capricorns possess a quirky personality. They are dedicated to acts of kindness on a personal level and acts of humanity on a public level. They are not shy about expressing opinions. They have heartfelt sympathy for the unfortunate and unlucky. They feel it is their duty to draw attention to the plight of such people.

Friends and Lovers

January 4 individuals are extremely vocal about their opinions, and this can be off-putting. They don't care what sort of message they send, as long as they speak the truth. Their love life is usually colorful. :fart: They are attracted to eccentric types. Settling down may not be in the cards for these fun-loving souls.

Children and Family

January 4 men and women have a need to break with the past. They believe in throwing off the conventions of their upbringing to find a truer, more meaningful identity. They allow their children this same freedom. Understanding it is necessary to discipline youngsters, they nonetheless use a light touch.

Health

Although they are healthy in a general way, January 4 men and women often suffer from unusual complaints. These are exacerbated by the fact that they are somewhat lax in their attention to health and fitness matters. Migraine headaches, skin rashes, and periods of mild depression are often symptomatic of their moods.

Career and Finances

January 4 people are not particularly career-oriented. They prefer a circuitous route toward finding what they want to do. People born on this date are often fortunate where money is concerned, though they seem to take little interest in financial affairs. Gambling is a favorite pastime of these individuals, but this should not be encouraged.

Dreams and Goals

The chief goal of January 4 people is to experience life in all its variety. They want to see and do things most people miss because they are concentrating on the more mundane aspects of life. January 4 people delight in the challenges and rewards that come to them unexpectedly. To them, achievement is a relative concept.

When I read this story (and then watched Rachel Maddow actually go over some *really* cool science related to it) I laughed. People have always guessed I was an Aquarius (whatever that means) although I was born under the sign of Pisces (whatever that means).

As far Pluto is concerned, it's not a planet. It doesn't fit the definition of a planet according to the consensus of astronomers.

The IAU...resolves that planets and other bodies, except satellites, in our Solar System be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:

(1) A planet [1] is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

(2) A "dwarf planet" is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape [2], (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.

(3) All other objects [3], except satellites, orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as "Small Solar System Bodies".

Footnotes:
[1] The eight planets are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

[2] An IAU process will be established to assign borderline objects into either dwarf planet and other categories.

[3] These currently include most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs), comets, and other small bodies.

Pluto is nearly round but it is clearly not dominant in its gravitational neighborhood. The actual dominant gravitational force in that neighborhood (the Sun notwithstanding) is Neptune. Pluto and Charon look more like the two innermost Kuiper Belt objects. (The Kuiper belt is a region beyond Neptune comprised of small bodies most of them ice of some form (water, methane or ammonia specifically) left over from the formation of the solar system) Pluto is what is known as a dwarf planet.

While it might *look* entirely arbitrary it isn't quite so arbitrary when looked at closely.

Pluto has less mass than the Moon. Is the Moon a planet? No, it's a satellite of Earth. Why? Because Earth dominantes the gravitational neighborhood. Pluto doesn't dominate its gravitational neighborhood. While Pluto orbits the Sun (like every other object in the Solar system) it is *also* orbiting Neptune. In fact, it orbits Neptune three times for every two orbits it makes around the Sun. So Pluto looks more like a satellite of Neptune with a very weird periodicity. Calling Pluto a planet makes as much sense as calling the Moon a planet. And if your question is "why was Pluto initially considered a planet" the reason is that it was large enough to be seen and there was, until recently, no scientific definition of a planet. A definition became necessary after we started discovering extrasolar planets.

The astrological implications I'll leave to others to discuss.

Cheers
Aj

I have way too many feelings about this. :) I know it's irrational so I'm not going to keep this minimal. I keep visiting astro.com and looking at my chart to make sure they haven't updated it.

It seems to me the definitions of the signs have evolved over the years - and abrupt change seems to negate that. Maybe the sun-signs have "progressed" like a person's chart will? But astrology does respond to scientific discovery. Classical "planets" included the sun, moon, mercury, venus, mars, jupiter and saturn. Only since the invention of the telescope has Western astrology incorporated Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Pisces (my sign (dammit)), was traditionally ruled by Jupiter, but modern astrologers consider Pisces to be ruled by Neptune - which was only discovered in 1846.

So I'm guessing this issue - which appears to have sprung from the off-hand statements of an astronomy professor who wasn't speaking about astrology - will be incorporated into modern astrology as time passes. I'm looking forward to seeing what it will be like in 10 years. It seems like a major consciousness shift to me, but then I'm more attached to astrology than most people.