NASA really needs everyone to chill about the new astrology signs

Last week, it was widely reported that everything we knew about our horoscopes was changing, thanks to NASA. Well, kind of. According to Time Magazine, society of astronomers in Minnesota apparently redefined the zodiac calendar to reflect a Babylonian-era, 13th sign: Ophiuchus. This “addition” shifted all of the Zodiacs over, changing almost everyone’s star sign.

Ophiuchus, the “snake bearer,” is evidently this old guy:

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It was also widely (and falsely) reported that this “change” was somehow NASA’s fault.

Naturally, the internet freakout commenced and people shared all the feelings.

https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/780279219150581760

That is, until NASA had enough of our nonsense, and took to their Tumblr to deliver some much-needed truth.

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"First things first: astronomy is not astrology."

Thank you, NASA! We feel like some people might get this confused, which is fair because the words are *so close*. Astronomy is the scientific study of outer space and everything to do with it. Astrology is not science.

According to NASA,

"No one has shown that astrology can be used to predict the future or describe what people are like based on their birth dates."

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We know, it’s cold. NASA went on to explain that it’s not just that it’s not astrology, it’s actually the placement of the Earth’s axis that determines constellations’ places in the sky.

"When the Babylonians first invented the 12 signs of zodiac, a birthday between about July 23 and August 22 meant being born under the constellation Leo. Now, 3,000 years later, the sky has shifted because Earth’s axis (North Pole) doesn’t point in quite the same direction."

So… what’s with this Ophiuchus guy?

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"To make a tidy match with their 12-month calendar, the Babylonians ignored the fact that the sun actually moves through 13 constellations, not 12. Then they assigned each of those 12 constellations equal amounts of time," NASA concluded.

There you have it. So please. NASA did not change your star sign, girl. They just did the math. And let’s keep applauding them for their serious advancement in real science, like expanding the International Space Station and exploration of Mars. Seriously, there’s a list of achievements from 2015 alone here.

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