The Twelve signs

Main article: Astrological sign

The symbols used in Western astrology to represent the astrological signs Symbol Long. Latin name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 0 30 60 90 Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer English translation The Ram The Bull Greek name /Kris /Tauros Sanskrit name Sumero-Babylonian name[11] UN.GA "The Agrarian Worker", Dumuzi MUL GU4.AN.NA "The Steer of Vabha () Heaven" MUL MA.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL Mithuna "The Great Twins" () (Lugalgirra and Meslamta-ea) Karkaa MUL AL.LUL "The Crayfish" () Siha () MULUR.GU.LA "The Lion" MUL AB.SIN "The Furrow"; Kany () "The Furrow, the goddess Shala's ear of corn" Tula () zibanitum "The Scales" Vcika MUL GIR.TAB "The Scorpion" () MUL Dhanus PA.BIL.SAG, Nedu () "soldier" Mea ()
MUL LU

The Twins /Didymoe The Crab The Lion The Maiden /Karkinos /Ln /Parthnos /Zygs o/Skorpis /Toxts /Aegkers /Hydrokhos /khthyes

120 Leo 150 Virgo 180 Libra 210 240 270 300

The Scales The Scorpio Scorpion Centaur Sagittarius The Archer "Goathorned" Capricornus (The SeaGoat) The Water Aquarius Bearer Fish

Makara () Kumbha () Mna ()

MUL

SUUR.MA "The GoatFish"

MUL

330 Pisces

GU.LA "The Great One", later q "pitcher" MUL SIM.MA "The Tail of the Swallow", later DU.NU.NU "fish-cord"

What follows is a list of the twelve signs of the modern zodiac (with the ecliptic longitudes of their first points), where 0 Aries is understood as the vernal equinox, with their Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, and Babylonian names (but note that the Sanskrit and the Babylonian name equivalents denote the constellations only, not the tropical zodiac signs). Also, the "English translation" is not usually used by English speakers. The Latin names are standard English usage.

Zodiacal constellations
It is important to distinguish the zodiacal signs from the constellations associated with them, not only because of their drifting apart due to the precession of equinoxes but also because the physical constellations by nature of their varying shapes and forms take up varying widths of the ecliptic. Thus, Virgo takes up fully five times as much ecliptic longitude as Scorpius. The zodiacal signs, on the other hand, are an abstraction from the physical constellations designed to represent exactly one twelfth of the full circle each, or the longitude traversed by the Sun in about 30.4 days.[12] There have always been a number of "parazodiacal" constellations that are also touched by the paths of the planets. The MUL.APIN lists Orion, Perseus, Auriga and Andromeda. Furthermore, there are a number of constellations mythologically associated with the zodiacal ones: Piscis Austrinus, The Southern Fish, is attached to Aquarius. In classical maps, it swallows the stream poured out of Aquarius' pitcher, but perhaps it formerly just swam in it. Aquila, The Eagle, was possibly associated with the zodiac by virtue of its main star, Altair. Hydra in the Early Bronze Age marked the celestial equator and was associated with Leo, which is shown standing on the serpent on the Dendera zodiac. Corvus is the Crow or Raven mysteriously perched on the tail of Hydra. The MUL.APIN glosses Hydra as "the Snake Ningizzida, lord of the Netherworld". Ningizzida together with Dumuzi (Aries) and Pabilsag (Sagittarius) governed the household of the queen of the underworld. Taking the current constellation boundaries as defined in 1930 by the International Astronomical Union, the ecliptic itself passes through an additional thirteenth constellation, Ophiuchus, situated between Scorpius and Sagittarius. This was identified in Ptolemy's Almagest, but is not generally recognised as part of the Zodiac. The idea of introducing Ophiuchus as a sign of the zodiac dates to the 1970s and was popularized in Japanese sidereal astrology from the late 1990s by Walter Berg's The 13 Signs of the Zodiac

Table of dates
The following table compares the Gregorian dates on which the Sun enters

a sign in the Ptolemaic tropical zodiac

a sign in the Hindu sidereal system the astronomical constellation of the same name as the sign, with constellation boundaries as defined in 1930 by the International Astronomical Union.

The theoretical beginning of Aries is the moment of vernal equinox, and all other dates shift accordingly. The precise Gregorian times and dates vary slightly from year to year as the Gregorian calendar shifts relative to the tropical year.[13] These variations remain within less than two days' difference in the recent past and the near-future, vernal equinox in UTC always falling either on 20 or 21 of March in the period of 1797 to 2043, falling on 19 March in 1796 the last time and in 2044 the next.[14] In the long term, if the Gregorian calendar isn't reformed, the equinox will move to earlier dates: it will fall on 18 March for the first time in AD 4092.. Sign Name Sidereal Tropical zodiac Symbol zodiac (Jyotisha) Name (2011)[17] (2011, UTC)[18] 21 March 14 April Aries - 19 April 14 May 20 April - 14 May Taurus 20 May 14 June 21 May - 14 June Gemini 20 June 14 July 21 June - 14 July Cancer 22 July 14 August 14 August 23 July 13 Leo 22 August September 13 23 August September - 22 Virgo 14 September October 23 14 September October Libra - 22 13 October November 23 13 October - November Scorpius 21 14 November December n/a Constellation[15][16] IAU constellation Solar Brightest star boundaries stay (2011) 19 April 14 May 14 May 21 June 21 June 21 July 21 July 11 August 11 August 17 September 25.5 days 38.2 days 29.3 days 21.1 days 36.9 days Hamal Aldebaran Pollux Al Tarf Regulus

Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo

Virgo

17 44.5 September days 31 October

Spica

Libra

31 October 21.1 Zubeneschamali 21 November days 21 November 8.4 30 days November

Scorpio

Antares

Ophiuchus

30 November 18.4 Rasalhague/ Ophiuchus 18 days Alpha Ophiuchi December

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius Pisces

22 14 November December Sagittarius - 21 13 December January 22 13 January December 12 Capricornus - 19 February January 20 January 12 - 18 February Aquarius February 14 March 19 14 March February Pisces 14 April 20 March

18 December 33.6 Kaus Australis 21 January days 21 January 27.4 Deneb Algedi 17 February days 17 February 23.9 12 March days 12 March 37.7 19 April days Sadalsuud Eta Piscium

Because the Earth's axis is at an angle, some signs take longer to rise than others, and the further away from the equator you live, the greater the difference. Thus, signs are spoken of as "long" or "short" ascension