Under The Martinborough Stars
Zodiac signs
You probably know your own one, you may often use this term to find out what is going on with your day, but do you know what the signs of the zodiac really are and why they are known?
I often get asked in my line of work if I’m an astrologer. Astrology has been around for centuries long before astronomy proper. People would look at the sky and try and work out what was going on with their lives. Whether there was a suspicious looking comet coming towards us which surely meant death and destruction for many cultures of the world, or where the planets were on the day of your birth, it was all meant to mean something; a sign from the gods.
If a particular planet was in your star sign on the day of your birth, it could mean all sorts of things. You could be emotional, powerful, clever, witty or many other characteristics.
For many people, the sign you belong to rules over your life. But what is a sign of the Zodiac?
Those signs of the zodiac are commonly known – you have probably heard or know what star sign you are. The twelve signs are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces. Eleven of the signs are human or creatures, Libra is the only one that is an object- a pair of scales.
These signs were useful as a celestial calendar, you could work out the time of year if you saw a particular sign or star in the sky. For example, if you see Virgo and her bright star Spica, this star is linked to the harvest and bringing in and gathering crops. Scorpius, our Winter constellation, spends the coldest 6 months of the year in the evening sky.
The 12 signs are near the equator, so everywhere in the world can see these zodiac signs. In the northern hemisphere, your birthday sign would be the one that the sign rose in the morning. Here in New Zealand, it is the sign that sets with the sun in the evening. The zodiac signs follow the ecliptic, the path of the sun, moon and planets in the sky. Gemini is visible in the summer and autumn sky, low in the sky below and right of Orion and under the dog signs of Canis Major and Canis Minor.
The Gemini constellation is dominated by the bright stars Castor and Pollux. They mark the heads of the two boys. These are also known as α (alpha) Geminorum (Castor) and β (beta) Geminorum (Pollux). Funnily, Pollux is the brighter of the pair, even though it is classed as the Beta star. Pollux is the top star of the pair, Castor the bottom one. They are relatively close to the Earth, being only 34 and 52 light years away.
So head out and have a look around this Autumn. Where is your star sign?
Becky Bateman, Under The Stars
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