Sun sign astrology

Sun sign astrology is the form of astrology most commonly found in many newspaper and magazine columns. It is a simplified system of astrology which considers only the position of the Sun at birth, which is said to be placed within one of the twelve zodiac signs. This sign is then called the sun sign or star sign of the person born in that twelfth-part of the year.

Sun sign astrologers take this basic twelve-fold division and relate all the current movements of all the planets to each other, using traditional rules to divine meanings for each sign separately. Because the Moon has the fastest apparent movement of all the heavenly bodies, it is often used as the main indicator of daily trends for sun sign astrology forecasts.

As with all astrology, it is considered pseudoscience by the scientific community.

History [edit]

Although William Lilly in the 17th century was the first newspaper astrologer sun sign astrology was not invented until 1930. The astrologer R. H. Naylor was claimed by his newspaper to have predicted the crash of the R101 airship. This led to pressure on Naylor to come up with a simplified system of astrology suitable for a newspaper column. After some experimentation, Naylor decided on sun signs.^{[citation needed]}

Sun signs [edit]

The following table^[1] shows the zodiac names in Latin, with their English translation and the individuals' names. It also shows the element and quality associated with each sign. The starting and ending dates of the sun sign are approximate, as they may differ from one year to another (by a day or so), due to the fact that the earth's orbit around the sun is not synchronous with earth's rotation (one year does not comprehend a whole number of days).^[2]^[3] The exact date and time of sign entrance/exit must be obtained with appropriate software or with the help of an ephemeris.

Sign names	Individuals' names	English name	Element	Quality (Modality)	Polarity	Associated Celestial Body	Approx. period of Sun sign 1/2 days variation^[2] ^[3]
Capricorn	Capricorn	The Goat	Earth	Cardinal	Negative	Saturn	December 22 – January 19
Aquarius	Aquarian	The Water-Bearer	Air	Fixed	Positive	Uranus	January 20 – February 18
Pisces	Piscean	The Fish	Water	Mutable	Negative	Neptune	February 19 – March 20
Aries	Arian/Arien	The Ram	Fire	Cardinal	Positive	Mars	March 21 – April 19
Taurus	Taurean	The Bull	Earth	Fixed	Negative	Venus	April 20 – May 20
Gemini	Geminian	The Twins	Air	Mutable	Positive	Mercury	May 21 – June 20
Cancer	Cancerian	The Crab	Water	Cardinal	Negative	Moon	June 21 – July 22
Leo	Leo	The Lion	Fire	Fixed	Positive	Sun	July 23 – August 22
Virgo	Virgo	The Maiden	Earth	Mutable	Negative	Mercury	August 23 – September 22
Libra	Libran	The Scales	Air	Cardinal	Positive	Venus	September 23 – October 22
Scorpio	Scorpio	The Scorpion	Water	Fixed	Negative	Pluto	October 23 – November 21
Sagittarius	Sagittarian	The Archer	Fire	Mutable	Positive	Jupiter	November 22 – December 21