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Tyson’s Zodiac: Are There Really Fourteen Signs?

by Diana K. Rosenberg

Mercury D

irect Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, research sci-entistinastrophysicsatPrincetonUniversityandCuratorofAstronomyattheHaydenPlan-etariumoftheAmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory,hasbecomeafamiliar faceontele-vision.Hefrequentlyappearsontalkshows,cheerilyandwithgustodeclaimingthatastrol-ogersareignorantofthe“fact”thattherearefourteen zodiacal constellations, rather thantwelve.Hehasalsoauthoredseveralbooks,amongthemUniverse Down to Earth. Inthiswork,hestates:

… the zodiac contains fourteen constella-tions, not twelve. The Sun, after leaving the constellation Scorpius, enters the constella-tion Ophiuchus. It then stays in Ophiuchus for a longer [emphasis Tyson’s] period of time than Scorpius, the sign that is adver-tised to precede Sagittarius. The confus-ing conclusion is that most Scorpions are actually Ophiuchans, and all Scorpions and Ophiuchans are currently Librans. The four-teenth constellation in the set is Cetus. It is a large constellation that dips into Pisces. The Sun passes through Cetus briefly as it ambles through Pisces, but you are not normally informed of this in the horoscope pages.1

Butwearespeakingofastrology,andDr.Tyson knows that astrologers use celestiallongitudes.2Heknows(orshouldknow)thattheSunentersthelongitudesofScorpiusandOphiuchusat the same time and remains inthoselongitudesforthesamelengthoftime.ItistruethattheeclipticrunsthroughpartofOphiuchus,thusrightlymakinghimpartofthezodiac; however, the spanofOphiuchus theSerpent-Bearer,in celestial longitude,matchesthatoftheScorpion,sohecannotbecalleda“thirteenthsign”!Inactuality,theeighthzodi-acalconstellationshouldbecalledScorpius/Ophiuchus. Indeed, the two figures actuallycontacteachother,astheleftfootofOphiu-

chus treads upon the Scorpion (accordingtotradition)inordertocrushit.(SeeFigure 1,page60.)It is this overlap that creates a prob-lemandmakesitseemasthoughOphiuchus’sallotmentofdegreesexceedstheScorpion’s. Tyson wrote that the ecliptic stays inOphiuchusfora longerperiodoftimethaninScorpius,butthisholdstrueonlyiftheartifi-cialdemarcation lines imposedby the Inter-national Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1930areadheredto.3Theastronomerswhodeter-minedthoselinescouldnotbringthemselvestoacceptoverlapsorcombinations;thelines,theybelieved,mustkeepeachfigureentirelyseparate,andtheskyfigures,likecagedani-mals, must remain within them.4 A quickglanceatthelinesdividingtheScorpionandthefeetofOphiuchusshowsthatabsolutely no allowance was made for the Scorpion’s upper half.Ophiuchus’s left foot,which is treadingupontheScorpion,isgivenall;theScorpion,none. The poor arachnid, already truncatedearlyoninhistorybylosinghisclawstoformtheScalesofLibra,hasbeenfurthermutilatedbythelossofhisnorthernlegs! Here’s the real zodiacal story, based oncelestiallongitude:

•TheScorpion’searlieststarsareXiScorpiiinthenorthclawandDeltaScorpii(DschubbaorIsidis)intheforehead,at1°18' Sagittariusand2°34' Sagittarius,respectively.5

•Ophiuchus’searlieststarisYedPrior,DeltaOphiuchi,atthelefthand,grasp-ingSerpens,theSerpent,at2°18' Sagittarius.

•TheScorpion’slaststars(actuallyclusters—theScorpion’stailliesinthenebulousMilkyWay)areAcumen,M7Scorpii,nearthesting,andGlobularCluster

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NGC6496belowthesting,at 28°43' and29°48' Sagittarius,respectively.

•Ophiuchus’slaststarisSinistra,NuOphiuchi,athisrighthand,graspingtheSerpent:29°45' Sagittarius.

Tyson claims that Ophiuchus is longerthanScorpius,butonlyifyouincludeitsout-lying, dim stars. And since we are talkingzodiachere,notethatthefirststarsoftheSag-ittariusArcherprecedethelongitudesofthosefaint, outlying Ophiuchus stars, thus seizingthezodiacalbatonwhereScorpius/Ophiuchushandsitoff.So,theSerpent-Bearercannot be considered a longer zodiacal figure than Scor-pius. The earliestSagittarius star is variable

XSagittariiat27°15' Sagittarius—showingthat theconstellationof theArcher takes itspositionas the rightful ninth zodiacal figure,precludinganyclaimsofOphiuchus. The span of Serpens Cauda (the tail ofthe Serpent grasped by Ophiuchus) contin-ues into tropicalCapricorn. It is this contin-uance of the Serpent’s stars that may havedeluded Dr. Tyson into thinking that Ophiu-chushimselfextendssofar.(Inancienttimes,theywereonefigurecalled“Serpentarius”or“OphiuchusvelSerpentarius”—ashamanicfigure6 struggling with the darkly powerfulSerpent and, at the same time, attemptingtocrushtheScorpionofdeath.)ButtheIAUofficially declared these to be separate con-stellations, ignoring centuries of knowledge

Tyson’s Zodiac

Figure 1

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andtradition,evendividingSerpensitselfintotwoentirelydistinctparts:SerpensCaput,theHead,andSerpensCauda,theTail. As for the statement that “all ScorpionsandOphiuchansarecurrentlyLibrans,”that’sa howler. Apparently, Dr. Tyson, in his rushtomixapplesandoranges(inthiscase, thesidereal zodiacand the tropical zodiac),hasgothisheadinatwist.Switchingfromthestarfigurestothetropicalzodiac,onemustgo for-wardonesign.Whathe(apparently)wantedto say was that all sidereal Scorpions andOphiuchansarecurrentlySagittarians (tropi-calSagittarians,thatis).7

As for Cetus “dipping” into Pisces (astrange description, since Cetus is south of,i.e., below, the Fishes), or for the Sun tran-siting Cetus (which would make the Sea-Monster part of the zodiac: Dr. Tyson’s so-called “fourteenth sign”), one look at a starmapshowsthatitjustain’tso.(SeeFigure 2,upper right.) The ecliptic does come close(belowthecordoftheWestFishofPisces)butnonethelessstaysclearof theSea-Monster’sdomain. (Here, the IAU astronomers got itright,takingcaretokeepthemostnortherlypointofCetus justbelow theecliptic line—see Figure 3, lower right.)8 Given this, it ishardtounderstandDr.Tyson’sclaim. Althoughhispurpose isnot toenlightenbut to mock, we are indebted to this astro-physicistononeimportantpoint:Manyastrol-ogers, even those who use constellations intheir work, are unaware of Ophiuchus’s“membership” in the sacred twelve, due tothefactthathisfeettouchtheecliptic.Butheisno“thirteenthsign”—heispartandparcelof the span of the Scorpion and should berecognized, included, and honored as such.

The Scorpion was seen as a death-dealingcreature9 and Ophiuchus as a healer; thus,combined they represent life-or-death issuesandchoices. Nonetheless, if Dr. Tyson is going toindulge inoneofhisvery favoritepastimes,attackingastrology—adisciplinestudiedandemployed by Hipparchus, Ptolemy, Galileo,andKepler,tonameafew—itisincumbentupon him, laden with honors and academiccredentialsasheis,togetitright!

Figure 2

Figure 3

Illustrations by Diana K. Rosenberg

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References and Notes1. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Universe Down to Earth,ColumbiaUniversityPress,1994,p.210.

2.Celestiallongitudeisthedistancebetweenthefirstpointofthetropicalzodiac(0°Aries)andanyceles-tialbody,measuredeastward(totheleftonthemap)alongtheecliptic.Thecelestiallongitudesofstarsaredeterminedbyprojectingtheirpositionsperpendicu-larlyontotheecliptic.

3. Constellation boundaries were set by the IAU in1930, following reports from committees set up forthatpurpose.

4.Otherdistortionsforcedupontheconstellationfig-uresby the IAU include thediminutionof theGreatSquareofPegasus;itis“officially”asquarenomore,having lost its northeast corner to Andromeda. Thefactis,ofcourse,thatAlpheratz(a.k.a.Sirrah)is,andalwayshasbeen,bothDeltaPegasi,theNavelofPeg-asus,andAlphaAndromedae,theHeadofAndrom-eda.Anotherexampleof IAUmeddling involves therightfootofAurigatheCharioteer(GammaAurigae)andthenorthhorn-tipofTaurus(ElNath,BetaTauri).Theyarethesamestar—but“official”skymapswillonlyowntoitsbeingBetaTauri.

5.Allpositionsinthisarticleareepoch2000.0.

6.To theGreeks,OphiuchuswasAesculapius,GodofMedicine.

7.OurtropicalzodiacsignofTauruswasoriginallytheskyfigureoftheBull,butnow,eachyear,astheSunmovesthroughthesignoftropicalTaurus,itisactu-ally traveling throughaskyscapeof thestarsof theRam—and tropicalistswhocall themselves“Aries”wereactuallybornwhentheSuntraversedtheoriginalPiscesFishes.Injustthisway,eachtropicalsignnowlargely overlays the star figure (or morpheme) thatoriginally came before it. Just as tropical TaureanshavebackedupontotheRam,tropicalAriansdivewiththeFishes; tropical Pisceans swimovermostof theoriginalfigureoftheWater-Pourer;tropicalAquariansnowbravethestormywaveswiththeSea-Goat(onearmoftheancientWater-Pourerstretchesoverhim);tropicalCapricornsride thebackof thehalf-human,half-equine Archer; tropical Sagittarians attempt totame themenacingScorpion; tropicalScorpiosnestin the Scales of Justice (which were, even very farback,bothScalesandthegreatScorpion’sextendedclaws);tropicalLibransnowfindtheirbalanceinthemidstofthemagnificentVirgin-goddess(feelingrightathome,forshewascalled“Justicia”);tropicalVirgoshavetakenoverthebodyandtailoftheLion(but,attheendofthesign,stillpossesstheupperpartoftheVirgin’sfaceandhead);tropicalLeos,whilestillhang-ingontotheheadandforepawsoftheoriginalLion,havetheearliertwo-thirdsoftheirsigninthecautious,self-protective Crab; tropical Cancers now enveloptheadventurousTwinbrothers;tropicalGeminishavebravely taken over the thundering, sensual Bull ofHeaven;andwearebacktowherethezodiacstarted:

theBull,leaderofthegreatcycleofsignsfromabout4500B.C.E.untilabout2300B.C.E.

8.SeetheUranometria 2000.0grid;itshowsthatthenorthwest corner of Cetus definitely lies below theecliptic.

9.Royal-and-warstarAntares,AlphaScorpii,liesjustunder Ophiuchus’s intruding left foot; since ancienttimes,thisstarhasbeenknowntothreatenassassina-tion.ItculminatesonthechartsofJuliusCaesarandAbrahamLincoln(whoalsohadNeptuneatthestar);itwastheSaturnofPompeytheGreatandCiceroandthe Uranus–North Node conjunction of Lord LouisMountbatten, all of whom were assassinated. TheMoonandAscendantwerealignedwithAntareswhenLincoln was shot; Mercury, when John F. Kennedywasshot;Neptune,attwoattemptsonGeraldFord’slife in1975;Uranus,whenIndiraGandhiwasassas-sinated in1984;andMars,whenYitzhakRabinwasassassinatedin1995.Butofcourse,allthisissheercoincidence—orsoNeildeGrasseTysonwouldhaveusbelieve.

BibliographyAllen,RichardHinckley.Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning.DoverPublications,Inc.,1963.

Hirshfeld,Alan,andRogerW.Sinnott,eds.Sky Cata-logue 2000.0(2vols.).SkyPublishingCorp.,1982.

Rosenberg, Diana K. Secrets of the Ancient Skies: Fixed Stars and Constellations in Natal and Mundane Astrology (inpreparation).Constellation illustrationsarebytheauthor.

Tirion,Wil,BarryRappaport,andGeorgeLovi.Urano-metria 2000.0.Willmann-Bell,Inc.,1987–88.

Transactions of IAU, Vol. 4, Cambridge UniversityPress,1933.

© 2009 Diana K. Rosenberg – all rights reserved

Robert Hand has called Diana K. Rosenberg “the leading authority on Fixed Stars.” A faculty member of NCGR and ISAR and a lecturer at every UAC, she has devoted herself to the research and recovery of the most ancient roots of sky knowledge, so that they may be restored to astrologers, their rightful heirs. She is Vice President of NCGR’s Uranian Society (Uranian/Cosmobiology SIG) and Copy Editor of the NCGRJour-nal, and she has written articles for many astrological publications. She is the author of TheNewFixedStarWorkbook and EncyclopaediaofFixedStarsandCon-stellations. Llewellyn’s The Astrology of the Macro-cosm includes her chapter on earthquake prediction; Groundswell Press’s HinduAstrologyLessons contains her chapter, “Fixed Stars and Lunar Mansions”; and NCGR’s EssentialsofIntermediateAstrology includes her essay on Fixed Stars. Her book, Secrets of theAncientSkies:FixedStarsandConstellationsinNatalandMundaneAstrology, is in preparation.

Tyson’s Zodiac