Week of December 4-10, 2011: What's Your Sign? by Dennis Mammana on Creators.com

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Week of December 4-10, 2011: What's Your Sign?

Anyone frequenting singles bars back in the 1970s or '80s has surely heard the question: What's your sign? And while most of us can recite the answer quickly, the fact is that few such questioners or respondents actually know what it means.

It's really quite simple.

The sun's annual path through the heavens takes it across a thin band of star groupings that form what we call the zodiac. If we could see the sun and stars at the same time, we'd find that our "sign" would be the constellation against which the sun lay at the time we were born. Thus, we have such signs as Aries, Taurus and Sagittarius, each of which corresponds to a star grouping along the zodiac.

What most people don't realize, however, is that since astrology's origin millennia ago, it has failed to keep up with our increasing knowledge of the cosmos. For example, scientists know today that Earth undergoes a 25,800-year wobble called precession. This alters slightly the general positions of the stars and constellations in our sky and, more particularly, the positions of solar system bodies relative to these much more distant objects.

So what, you ask? Well, it means that the sign to which you think you belong is probably not the constellation against which the sun lay at the time of your birth - unless, of course, you were born thousands of years ago.

Suppose, for example, your birthday is Nov. 26. You've lived your entire life believing your sign to be Sagittarius. What a complete upheaval in one's self-view it must be to learn that when you were born, the sun really lay in front of the stars of the constellation Scorpius.

Yikes!

If this discovery isn't disturbing enough to some folks, imagine celebrating a birthday this week. Oh, sure, you think your sign is Sagittarius and if you're so inclined, you've lived your life believing this "fact." Unfortunately for you, the sun lies nowhere near Sagittarius during this week, but rather in front of a constellation that's not even part of the zodiac: Ophiuchus, the serpent-bearer.

Now, lest you think that this is some kind of cosmic rarity, keep in mind that the sun actually spends three times as many days in front of the stars of Ophiuchus — from Nov. 29 through Dec. 17 — as it does in front of Scorpius — Nov. 23 through 28 — so one would think it would be a legitimate sign in the horoscope tables. But where is it?

Perhaps it's just a coincidence ... or perhaps it's not ... but my mother and my younger daughter were both born under this sign. I still haven't mustered the courage to tell them that they're really Ophiuchans. In fact, I can just hear the words of Lt. Uhuru as she announces to Starship Enterprise Captain Kirk that some three-eyed, slimy-skinned aliens want to talk with him: "Captain, the Ophiuchans are on the hailing frequency."

No, I think I'll just keep my mouth shut and hope that the subject never comes up.

To learn the sun's actual positions against the constellations throughout the year, please visit DennisMammana.com, click on "Sky Info and Tips," "Astronomy Fact Sheets" and "What's My Sign?"

Visit Dennis Mammana at www.dennismammana.com. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.