Astronomy & Astrology • What is astrology? • Beginnings were different than what we thing of today! • Seven known objects that wandered through the sky • Days of the week Introduction to Astronomy • These objects were given special significance Astronomy vs. Astrology • Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter & Saturn Presented by Robert Wagner • Could they impact people’s lives? Constellations of the Zodiac Constellations of the Zodiac (2) • Some familiar constellations • In reality: • What is special about these? • Earth’s motion changes position of the Sun • Not the brightest constellations! • Solar system is flat • The Sun, Moon and Planets move through these • Planets follow the same path as the Sun Image Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Zodiac#/media/File:Zodiac_woodcut.png Image Credit: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/skytellers/constellations/ Natal Astrology Horoscope • The sky is divided into 12 sections • Where were the Sun, Moon and planets at the moment of your birth? • These are the zodiac constellations you are familiar with • This was believed to determine your personality and fortune • Sun spends about 1 month in each constellation • Developed by early Greek astronomers • Precession – What does this do to the horoscope? • Ptolemy – wrote treatise on astrology (in addition to the Almagest on • Slowly changes the positioning astronomy) • Still the basis of astrology today • We are now about 1 zodiac sign off from what the charts would say! • Ex: On May 6, the Sun was in Aries – The horoscope would say Taurus Image Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eratosthenes.bjb.svg Horoscope (2) Astrology and Astronomy • Newspaper/Internet horoscopes often look at just the sun sign • That means about 8% of the population has the same horoscope • From the Greeks through the Renaissance – Very similar prediction! • Tycho, Kepler and Galileo were astrologers and astronomers • Complete horoscope • By the 1700s, the two became separate • Uses not only the Sun, but the Moon and each of the five planets • Astronomy was the study of the sky • Interpretation of horoscope • Astrology was the study of the sky’s perceived impact on our lives here • Some rules, but also depends on judgement on Earth • Interpretation varies from astrologer to astrologer Astrology as a Pseudoscience Summary • What is a pseudoscience? • Astrology is the study of the position of the Sun, Moon, and planets • A subject that purports to be scientific and may use scientific and their perceived impact on our lives terminology • Astronomy is the study of the celestial objects • However, it is not based on rigorous testing like a true science • Astrology and Astronomy were essentially the same in the distant past • Statistical studies have shown no relation between one’s horoscope and their lives • Statistical studies have shown that there is no scientific basis or truth to astrology • Horoscopes are vague enough that you can find some truth in them.