Sunday, April 30, 2017

Z is for Zodiac


Z is for Zodiac as we come to the end of our A-Z challenge of exploring heavenly bodies.  The Zodiac is the sun’s apparent path across the skies, which because of the earth’s rotation and tilt isn’t right on the equator.  Instead, the Zodiac follows the sun and, before calendars, was a way of keeping the date straight as the sun is roughly at the same place at the same time year after year.  But because the sun’s elliptical path varies from the equator (which the sun is only at twice a year at the fall equinox and the spring equinox) the “stars in the zodiac vary from north and south of the equator. 

We can thank the Babylonians for our current Zodiac.  Studying the sun’s and moon’s path across the sky, they placed constellations in each 30 day block.  But there is a problem with this as the sun may be “in a particular constellation” from as few as eight days (for Scorpius) to as many as forty-five days (Virgo).  They also capped the zodiac at 12 constellations even though there are thirteen constellations that are in the sun’s path.  When one speaks of being born under a Zodiac sign, it means that when the sun is overhead at noon, the sun is in that constellation, but of course we can’t tell because it is daytime and the stars can’t be seen.   But there’s a problem.  The zodiac dates and the actual position of the sun has changed.  So instead of being born in the sign of Capricorn, I was born in the sign of Sagittarius.  This doesn’t bother me any, although I kind of liked being a goat, but being a horse archer isn’t bad either.  But then, I don’t plan my life on my astrological signs.  

For more information on the Zodiac, check out Heidi Kneale's A-Z challenge blog.  Being from Australia and on the other side of the International Time Zone, she  had her post up a day before mine! :  

29 comments:

  1. I absolutely love zodiacs and it's so crazy when you realise just how it all works! There's so much to learn about the sun and the stars! It really fascinates me!

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  2. I wrote about Zodiac signs and how writers can use them to do character sketches. Intrigued about the change in Zodiac signs.

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  3. Hi Sage - the zodiac is an amazing 'invention' which the Babylonians 'harnessed' to give some structure to their yearly time. I was surprised to read about Ophiuchus ... but interested as it pushed me to into Sagittarius ... and I too rather enjoyed the goat format. Cheers Hilary Congratulations on finishing off with a very satisfactory Z ... thanks for visiting ...

    http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/z-is-for-zebra-zoo-and-zedland.html

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  4. I must admit that I never had much time for Zodiacs until I realised that my sign (Scorpio) pretty much fits into my personality. :-) Yep, I am a real Scorpio.

    Greetings from London.

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  5. Congratulations on completing the A-Z and thanks for commenting on my posts.
    I've never studied the zodiac seriously but then as a Taurean perhaps I should.

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  6. Welcome to being a Sagittarius! Thank you for providing the history behind the zodiac signs. Interesting reading. Congratulations on completing the A to Z challenge. Keep up the good work. www.dianeweidenbenner.com

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  7. Great way to end the A to Z challenge, and it has been great following your posts during the month of April. I am excited to be following you future posts.

    Stopping by from A to Z: Zonked
    Shari

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  8. I never realized these details about the Zodiac. Now I've got to go see what sign I was born under. Not that I believe in that sort of thing, but it's fun to know.

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  9. Interesting to know the details about this. My husband is born on a cusp so flits from Libra to Scorpio depending on the year. LOL Find me here.LINK

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  10. That picture of the Zodiac looks a little like a merry-go-round with the animals going up and down and round and round. This has been a great series. I've learned a lot.

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    1. I should have noted that the word comes from the latinized version of a Greek word meaning "circle of little animals"

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  11. I learned so much from your blog this month. Congrats on finishing the challenge!

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  12. Thank you for all the Zeusical stories:)
    Coming from India, where entire lives are planned based on one's Zodiac sign, today's post is gonna need a lot of looking into.
    Z is for Zagreb and Zindagi

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  13. I can't believe you're already to Z! This has been a fun and informative journey. Thanks for all your research in order to share this with us!

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  14. Congratulations on finishing the A to Z Challenge and thanks for visiting/commenting on my blog! Look forward to your Reflections post! http://mollyscanopy.com/

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  15. Well done for making it to the end of the journey. This was really interesting and I've learned a lot from your posts. :-)

    Cait @ Click's Clan

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  16. Zodiac is the fitting end to your exploration of the skies. Congratulations on completing the challenge!

    Btw, I happen to be a Sagi too, though I am not sure whether I got pushed into it or not :)

    All the best,
    Nilanjana.

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  17. Finally z.
    Congrats Sage. I think you made an amazing and wonderful work !!

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  18. I've loved your Jupiter stories. Glad you made it to the end.

    Her Grace, Heidi from Romance Spinners

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  19. I don't much believe in astrology based on the zodiac but people say I'm a typical Scorpio.

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  20. Great series! Saw a history of Bronze Age astronomy once with the Babylonians reporting the sighting of several events. Namely comets and maybe a supernova, it was quite interesting.

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  21. It's like the zodiac was a good idea, but then the way it was implemented kind of odd. Great theme. I enjoyed learning about Jupiter's conquests/constellations. ;)

    A to Z 2017: Magical and Medicinal Herbs

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  22. Whenever I think of the Zodiac signs, I think of the Zodiac Killer.

    I didn't know it was a Babylonian thing.

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  23. Well done with the challenge. I enjoyed the posts!

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  24. A great finale to the a-z. Congrats on a job well done educating us!

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  25. I read about that astrological sign thing - I still feel like an aquarian. :)

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  26. LOL! But hay, this is very intersting. Zodiac is something we all think know what it is, though I'd hav enever describe it the way you did ;-)

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  27. Many congratulations on completing this challenge.

    All the best Jan

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