NASA explains 13th zodiac sign ‘Ophiuchus’

[NASA scientists have revealed after ‘doing the math’ that there is a 13th zodiac sign. Photo: NASA]

Astrologists and astronomers are in the midst of an outer space debate after NASA revealed that there is a 13th star sign for our earthly calendar.

“So, we didn’t change any zodiac signs…we just did the math,” the government agency said in a post on Tumblr.

“Astronomy is the scientific study of everything in outer space,” the post read. “Astrology is something else.”

NASA explained that the constellations associated with the annual calendar stem from the Babylonians looking at the stars in the sky and seeing patterns, noting that the same clusters returned the same time each year. Since the Babylonians already used a 12-month calendar, they assigned one constellation to each month, and that tradition has carried over until now.

“The constellations are different sizes and shapes, so the sun spends different lengths of time lined up with each one,” NASA posted.

“The line from Earth through the sun points to Virgo for 45 days, but it points to Scorpius for only seven days. 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.”

New sign ‘Ophiuchus’ represents anyone born between Nov. 29 and Dec. 17, placing it between Scorpio and Sagittarius.

Not everyone is ready for the change. Certain astrology enthusiasts are refusing to accept Ophiuchus, with many of them taking to social media to express their disappointment or disbelief in the new zodiac.

It isn’t bad news for everyone, especially those who felt like they never matched up with their star sign to begin with.