Week of Nov. 22-29, 2009 by Dennis Mammana on Creators.com

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Week of Nov. 22-29, 2009

Anyone frequenting singles bars back in the '70s has surely heard the question "What's your sign?" And while most of us know the answer, not many know what it actually means. It's really quite simple.

The sun's annual path through the heavens takes it across a thin band of star groupings known as 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 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 the 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 more distant objects.

So what, you ask? 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.

Now suppose your birthday is Nov.

23. You've lived your entire life believing your sign to be Sagittarius. What a shock it must be to learn that, when you were born, the sun really appeared against the stars of the constellation Scorpius. So much for the validity of astrology!

And, if this weren't disturbing enough, imagine celebrating a birthday on Nov. 29. On that day, the sun lies 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 rare occurrence, 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. 23-28.

Interestingly, my mother, younger daughter and several friends were born under this "sign." I still haven't mustered the courage to tell them that they're really Ophiuchans!

If you'd like to see a table of the sun's actual positions against the constellations throughout the year, please visit my website and check out this page: www.dennismammana.com/skyinfo/astrofacts/sign.htm

To find out more about Dennis Mammana and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.