"I'm having a huge identity crisis now that my zodiac sign changed!"

"My whole life has been a lie!"

"What am I going to do with my Pisces tattoo?"

These are only some of the reactions people had via Twitter regarding the rumor that NASA had changed everyone's zodiac signs. People were confused, bewildered, and even upset that they were no longer their respective sign. After living their whole lives and reading horoscope after horoscope that seemed to have coincided perfectly with their lives, how could they just change them?

Well, they didn't.

First off, the zodiac signs were believed to have shifted due to the discovery of a new zodiac called Ophiuchus. Ophiuchus was said to have been the 13th constellation for those born between November 30 and December 17, thereby shifting all the other signs. Ophiuchus does exist, and it was first charted by Ptolemy in the second century along with the 47 other original constellations. It wasn't until the Babylonians invented the 12 zodiac signs and had to choose which constellations would be included in the calendar, and decided to leave out Ophiuchus. The Babylonian calendar had 12 months, so naturally they selected 12 of the 13 zodiac constellations. Ophiuchus is actually much larger than its neighboring constellation Sagittarius, but its stars are very faint and difficult to see which is why it was left out. This automatically dismisses the claims that scientists have "discovered a new zodiac," because it has already existed for 2,000 years. Ophiuchus is nothing new.

In fact, this same phenomenon surfaced back in 2011 with the "discovery" of Ophiuchus swarming the Internet. People were freaking out back then just as they are now, but that rumor was quickly debunked and people went on with their lives as their respective zodiac sign. Why this same situation started back up again in 2016, I have no clue. But that is also further proof that this constellation has existed for quite some time and it is no new discovery.

When this whole ordeal about the zodiac signs started up again this year, the Today Show stated that they were indeed changing and had people look at their "new zodiac signs." More websites such as TeenVogue put out stories that literally told people that NASA was responsible for changing everyone's signs. To clear things up, NASA studies astronomy, not astrology.

Astronomy and astrology are two completely different things, and people still have yet to differentiate between the two terms. Astronomy is the study of the composition of space and celestial bodies such as stars and planets, while astrology is the study of movements and relative positions of the stars and their effects on the natural world. Astrology is completely made up and is not supported by any scientific fact whatsoever. It only began as people created designs out of the positions of the stars called constellations, then made assertions that these constellations had some supernatural effect on the world. NASA studies astronomy; they explore the composition, physics and chemistry of celestial bodies in the physical universe. They do not study the position of the stars and their effect on people's lives, so they do not have any control over the zodiac signs.

This then begs the question, why are people so concerned and freaked out that their sign was changed? The concept of zodiac signs first began with the constellations and what their design represented, then they added the respective dates to each sign. In today's day and age, most people no longer pay attention to the constellations and their movement in the sky. They base their zodiac solely off of the dates alone, and if their birthday falls into that a certain sign then they automatically become one of them. Because most people no longer pay attention to the constellations, they do not realize that zodiac signs can actually change due to precession of the Earth. Simply put, Earth's axis slowly "wobbles" in a circle as the Earth rotates (much like a spinning top), so a constellation in the sky in October thousands of years ago can be seen in a different month present day. Although this happens every few thousand years, this is the only circumstance that can cause the zodiac signs to change based on Earth's physical movement.

So next time you hear a rumor that NASA is changing your zodiac sign again, it won't be true. Science has the power to prove or disprove just about anything, so your signs are here to stay. At least for the next few thousand years. I am a proud Gemini, and I will stay a Gemini until science proves me wrong. So keep reading your horoscopes, everyone, because your identity crisis has been averted.