Your Zodiac Sign May Or May Not Have Changed

Brace for the worst: You may be a Virgo, scientists say.

There are many newspapers and websites that promise to tell your fortune, detailing where the planets were when you were born and what their future movements suggest about your future. It’s called astrology, and whether or not you believe in the signs of the zodiac, you won’t believe this: It’s all wrong.

Astronomers with the Minnesota Planetarium Society have dropped a bomb on the zodiac, noting that thanks to the millennia-long effect of the moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth, there’s about a one-month bump in the alignment of the stars. The result?

“When [astrologers] say that the sun is in Pisces, it’s really not in Pisces,” Parke Kunkle, a board member of the Minnesota Planetarium Society, told the Star Tribune.

And if the sun isn’t in Pisces, you’re not in Pisces. Surprise! You’re an Aquarius! New zodiac sign dates are in order, it seems.

A report on CNN, however, says your sign hasn’t changed. Read CNN’s story here.

Much of astrology — called an ancient and complex system that uses math and science to predict the future — relies upon careful observation of the heavens. And your astrological sign is based on the date of your birth, something that was tied very tightly to the position of the heavens back in Babylonian times.

“When someone asks you what your sign is, they’re referring to your Sun Sign — where the sun was in the Zodiac at the exact moment of your birth,” explains the website of noted astrologer Kelli Fox. As the years have worn on, the position of the heavens has shifted ever so slightly — but those signs haven’t.

YOUR REAL HOROSCOPE Astrology buffs should be using these dates, reflecting where the stars currently are aligned: 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. 23-29. Ophiuchus:* Nov. 29-Dec. 17. Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20. * Discarded by the Babylonians because they wanted 12 signs per year.

Read the full Fox News article here.