Scorpio to Lose Status as Zodiac Sign
The biggest buzz coming out of the 218th Annual Meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Boston on Monday, centered around a plan to remove the constellation Scorpius from the Zodiac and replace it with the constellation Ophiuchus.
"We're mostly concerned with science and the facts, but astrology is just a mess, and this might help with astrologers predictions", says Dr. George VanDelay, author of the proposal, with more than a hint of sarcasm.
What precipitated this controversial shift in policy is the fact that the Sun actually travels through thirteen constellations as seen from the Earth on its annual trip around our nearest star. These are the twelve traditional zodiac constellations and Ophiuchus. "We tried to get the thirteenth sign, Ophiuchus, officially recognized as a zodiacal sign a few years ago, but the traditionalists insisted on keeping a dozen only", VanDelay explained. "The problem is the Sun is in the constellation Scorpius for less than a week, while it resides in Ophiuchus for almost three weeks out of the year."
The red dashed line is the Sun's path through Scorpius and Ophiuchus
In a surprise move, VanDelay announced a new, more radical proposal to take to the International Astronomical Union, the official body who names celestial objects and determines the boundaries of constellations. His solution is to adjust the constellation boundary between Scorpius and Ophiuchus to re-assign the section of Scorpius that the Sun travels through for 6 days each year into the constellation of Ophiuchus.
The crowd of astronomers in the main Westin Hotel conference room reacted angrily at first. "Most astronomers prefer the solution we came up with before; adding Ophiuchus to the Zodiac. That represents the more scientific approach to this ages old problem. There are already millions of people who have adopted Ophiuchus as their Sun sign", said Dr. Ken Marvelous of the AAS. "But, VanDelay makes a lot of sense. We just have to make sure the IAU doesn't try to demote Scorpius to 'dwarf constellation' status with this redrawing of the boundaries."
"We tried to reason with astrologers on this Ophiuchus issue before", said VanDelay. "Now it seems the best way to resolve the whole thing forever, is to just eliminate Scorpius from the equation." By the time VanDelay was done laying out his plan to take a constellation reorganization plan to the IAU, the crowd was energized and gave him a standing ovation. It seems almost certain the AAS will endorse this restructuring of the zodiac. This kind of proposal usually takes a couple years to make it through the IAU submissions process, but VanDelay has already quietly submitted a written proposal, so this will be on the agenda at the next IAU General Assembly in Beijing, August 20-31, 2012.
"This is a brilliant plan", said Dr. Wilson Hale of UC Berkeley, "They already cut off the Scorpion's claws ages ago to create the constellation Libra. That just shows how arbitrary this whole thing is."
Angelica Spock from University of Missouri added, "It's no secret that astrological predictions have never been less reliable that they are today. My horoscope is almost never right any more. Maybe this will help astrologers get their act together."
据美媒消息，随着2006年国际天文学联合会将冥王星重新定义为矮行星，这世上似乎没有什么是神圣不可侵犯的。业余天文学家迈克-西蒙森近日透露消息称，美国天文学会近期召开会议商讨将天蝎座从黄道星座中取消，取而代之的是蛇夫座。
天蝎座将被取消蛇夫座成星座新成员？（图） - 沙漠富翁 - 与时俱进 与图同行
蛇夫座是模糊、外型像巨大帐篷的夏季星座，描绘了一个壮汉正与一条大蛇摔跤。罗马神话中蛇夫座是一名寻求永生秘密的医治者，在希腊神话中他代表着医术之神，是医学的创立者。在天空88个西方星座中，其中12个因位于十二宫图而被古人无比尊从。占星家在筑造星座时融入了神话人物的影子。
天蝎座将被取消蛇夫座成星座新成员？（图） - 沙漠富翁 - 与时俱进 与图同行
当人们观察星座分界线时，会发现太阳路径天蝎座的时间只有区区一周，却花费了三周经过临近星座蛇夫座。有些人已经将蛇夫座命为第13个星座，但西方迷信一直认为13是非常不吉利的数字，因此为了保持天空和谐、平衡与积极的能量，我们必须保证12星座的完整。天蝎座被描述为激情，嫉妒和强迫性，而蛇夫座则被认为是寻求智慧，权威和衣着华丽（尤其喜欢方格花纹）。
所以，倘若天蝎座被取消，那么出生于10月24日到11月22日的人将变成蛇夫座。然而这种替换对全世界的天蝎座人们是否只会产生隔夜效应，他们是否会对这种象征智慧与启示的新星座的存在而狂喜不已，现在还不得而知。
天蝎座将被取消蛇夫座成星座新成员？（图） - 沙漠富翁 - 与时俱进 与图同行
同时为了宣扬这种新的星座肯定要花费不少钱。所有的占星工具都要升级。大约35%的美国人相信他们的星座预示，每年花费在咨询占星家的钱超过2亿美元，这相当于美国宇航局一项探险级别的空间科学任务的成本。然而重新定位天空星座可能会带来一个新的现金流。唯一的负面可能是这次星座更改可能不如预想的那么顺利，人们不会再说“我是性感的天蝎，”取而代之的是，“嗯，我是一个喜欢格子夹克、爱管闲事的蛇夫。”