The Earth, the Sun, the Moon, and most of the planets are almost on the same level. One might say that they are spinning around on a very large saucer in space. The Sun is in the middle of the saucer. Far out beyond the path of the farthest planet are stars on this same level. Ancient people recognized twelve constellations that form a background for the imaginary path that the Moon, the Sun, and the planets trace out in the sky. Eleven of these constellations are animals (including men and women). The twelfth is Libra, the Scales. Ancient star watchers gave this band of constellations the name zodiac. Zodiac means "of living things."
The zodiac, then, is a circle of twelve constellations that surround man's solar system. The Sun, the Moon, and most of the planets seem to move along this path in front of these twelve constellations. When the Sun is between the Earth and a certain constellation of the zodiac, the Sun is said to be "in" that constellation. The zodiac is divided into twelve equal parts. The Sun occupies each part for about one month. The constellations and the signs of the zodiac are Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer.
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| zodiac constellations |
