What's your sign? I don't want to get too much into the subject of astrology because of reasons that should be obvious. But the two disciplines come from the same roots and still share some terminology, specifically the word zodiac, which I will touch on today.

People born from Oct. 24 to Nov. 22 are known as Scorpios in the Western tradition of astrological divination. (Note that the constellation itself is called Scorpius.) Thousands of years ago, when people were trying to make some sense and order from nature around them and applying that to daily life, the skies offered a very handy, dependable way to organize time.

The signs of the zodiac are named after the constellations that lie on the ecliptic, or the path the sun, moon and planets appear to travel across the sky. Remember that the ancient people believed the Earth was in the center of the Universe and all those objects sailed across the sky like a great light show.

Astrological signs were determined by the sun's presence in that "house," or constellation. So, when the sun is in Scorpius, people born during this time are Scorpios, right?

Not exactly. There's this little problem called precession, which is the slow wobble of the Earth's axis. The wobble is like a spinning top — the top and bottom points of a top trace a small circle even as it spins on its axis. The Earth's full wobble takes almost 26,000 years to complete that small circle and the effect is that the constellations "drift" very slowly through the ages.

Of course, the ancients would not have known that because the changes are not perceptible in any one lifetime, or even in many generations. But today we know that the dates that originally determined someone's sign have shifted to almost a month later. (Precession actually affects more than this but that's for another article!)

To add to that complication, it appears that the ancient people decided to leave out a constellation in the zodiac. Between Scorpius and Sagittarius lies a large constellation called Ophiuchus. The sun actually spends more time in Ophiuchus than it does in Scorpius because of the sheer size of this constellation. Perhaps because it would have been an "unlucky" 13th sign, or because it didn't fit into the neatly divided 12-month calendar and 24-hour days, it was not included as an official sign. Those born between Nov. 30 and Dec. 17, then, should be Ophiuchans!

WATCHING THE LEONIDS

The Leonid Meteor Shower looks good this year and it just so happens the peak is on a weekend, Saturday, Nov. 17. Saturday, Nov. 17, is also the night of the Hawaiian Astronomical Society's monthly "town" public star party, so it is a great pair of reasons to go out star-watching! There are two locations-Kahala Park and Waikele Community Park. Both begin at sunset and end around 9 p.m., depending on the weather. If you plan to watch for the Leonids on your own, pick a dark location with as much sky as you can view, make yourself comfortable and just scan the sky. The Moon will set by 1 a.m. (Sunday morning) and Leo will be just rising at that time.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS ENDS

Don't forget Daylight Savings ends on Sunday, Nov. 4. Subtract one hour from time zones on the Mainland.

THE PLANETS

Mercury:

Mercury is in the morning sky, rising in the east before sunrise around 5:30 a.m. at the beginning of November. The tiny yellow planet holds its own next to the brightest star in Virgo, Spica.

Venus:

Venus is up early in the morning throughout the month of November, rising around 3:30 a.m. and remaining in the eastern sky until the sun washes it from view. Follow the ecliptic to the west and look for Saturn in Leo and Mars in Gemini.

Mars:

Mars is the "star" of the winter with its upcoming opposition in December. Earth has been closing in on the Red Planet and soon it will appear bigger and brighter in our night sky. Throughout the month it will rise at 10 p.m. in early November and two hours earlier by the end in the constellation Gemini.

MOON PHASES

Third Quarter: Nov. 1

New Moon: Nov. 9

First Quarter: Nov. 17

Full Moon: Nov. 24

All dates Hawai'i Standard time.

Questions? Contact Carolyn Kaichi @ hokupaa@bishopmuseum.org or 847-8203.