The Zodiac

Published 2021‑07‑07 at 03:00 UT by Pierre Paquette

The zodiac is a set of 12 constellations (really, there are 13, but for some reason, Ophiuchus is never counted). They are located near the ecliptic, which is the apparent trajectory of the Sun in the sky over the course of a year.

The animation below shows the zodiac with the Sun and the Earth (not to scale) moving around it. For simplicity, the daily rotation of the Earth and its axial tilt are not illustrated—Earth’s North Pole points away from your eyes.