The search for a gift for a person born under the new Ophiuchus star sign, on the other hand, might be a little more difficult.
The contentious 13th sign won’t be included in most collections of zodiac jewelry, but how about birthstone jewelry?
The Ophiuchus birthstone would be topaz or citrine for November, or turquoise, tanzanite, or blue zircon for December, according to the ‘new’ star sign dates.
In light of this, scroll down to see some of our top picks for jewelry featuring the Ophiuchus birthstone!
In This Article...
Ophiuchus: a fire sign or not?
Although neither of the official astrological systems recognizes Ophiuchus as a sign, certain sidereal astrologers might include it in their chart analysis. The constellation, which is a representation of a serpent-bearer, is located between the early and late degrees of the mutable fire sign Sagittarius and the fixed water sign Scorpio.
What color is Ophiuchus’ zodiac sign?
The name Rasalhague, which translates to “Head of the Snake Charmer” in Arabic, is another name for the star. The knees of Ophiuchus are marked by two stars, Eta Ophiuchi and Zeta Ophiuchi, a hot blue giant with a reddish tint brought on by interstellar dust.
Ophiuchus, what planet is it?
You were born between November 30 and December 18, right?
If so, your birthdate likely coincides with the sun crossing in front of Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer.
I nearly hear someone say right now:
You are 100 percent correct. This is due to Ophiuchus being a constellation rather than a zodiac sign. Continue reading to learn more about the differences between astrological signs and astronomical constellations, how to find Ophiuchus, when and where to look for it, some of the deep-sky gems it holds, as well as its mythology and science.
Signs versus constellations
The Serpent Bearer is seen in the south to southwest on August and September evenings from latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. Ophiuchus is visible from the Southern Hemisphere closer to the sky. The bright red star Antares, the brightest star in the Scorpion constellation, is also close by.
The International Astronomical Union (IAU) drew the official boundaries for each of the 88 constellations in the 1930s. Rasalhague, the brightest star in Ophiuchus, and Antares, the brightest star in Scorpius, are identified in the image below of the constellation Ophiuchus. Despite not being as bright as Antares, the star that represents the Scorpion’s beating heart, Rasalhague denotes the head of Ophiuchus.
Ophiuchus is poor. Despite the fact that the ecliptic also crosses him, no one ever claims him as their birth sign. After all, the zodiacal belt spans a total of 16 degrees in breadth and extends about 8 degrees north and south of the ecliptic. Additionally, along this area in our sky, the constellations are not properly spaced out. All readers of online astrological guidance are aware with the signs of the zodiac. There are 12 well-known zodiac signs, including Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, and others. But there was no Ophiuchus.
However, the moon and planets do frequently move within Ophiuchus’ borders. The sun also does this. From roughly November 30 to December 18 of every year, the sun is in front of the constellation Ophiuchus.
Around November 21, or anytime the sun is precisely 30 degrees west of the December solstice point, the sun is said to enter the sign of Sagittarius. On the solstice of December 21, the sun then moves into the sign of Capricorn. In spite of the sun beaming in front of the constellation Ophiuchus from November 30 to December 18, the sun moves through the sign of Sagittarius during the month before and up to the December solstice.
By the way, it takes around 72 years for the December solstice point to travel one degree westward in front of the zodiacal constellations or backdrop stars. This indicates that by the year 2269, the December solstice point will eventually enter the constellation of Ophiuchus.
When and where to locate Ophiuchus
The ideal time to view Ophiuchus is in the summer in the Northern Hemisphere (Southern Hemisphere winter). This constellation can be seen high in the southern sky at dusk and early evening from the Northern Hemisphere in late July and early August. On autumnal evenings in the Northern Hemisphere, it can be visible in the southwest sky.
The region of the sky north of the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion and south of the constellation Hercules the Hero is occupied by this relatively big constellation. Try star-hopping to Ophiuchus from this red gem of a star, Antares, if you are familiar with Scorpius’ brightest star. The star Rasalhague designates the head of Ophiuchus (Alpha Ophiuchi).
In mythology and in the sky, Ophiuchus is associated with the Serpent constellation.
This constellation, which depicts a large man holding a snake, may be visible if your sky is clear and dark.
Ophiuchus is derived from two Greek words that indicate holding and snake.
Deep-sky objects in Ophiuchus
Take your binoculars on a moonless night and use them to scan Ophiuchus, which is close to the Milky Way’s band and offers numerous deep-sky wonders. For instance, Ophiuchus features a large number of globular clusters. According to the accompanying figure, M10 and M12 are the two globular clusters that are the most straightforward to see with common binoculars. While they appear as feeble puffs of light when viewed through binoculars, these globular clusters become more apparent when viewed through a telescope. They are enormous stellar cities with a diameter of 100300 light years that are seething with tens of thousands of stars.
The Pipe Nebula, a huge interstellar cloud of gas and dust that spans roughly 7 degrees of sky, is another prominent deep-sky favorite. That is around the width of three to four fingers when held at arm’s length. This dark nebula can be seen with the unassisted eye in a pitch-black, clear sky at a distance of 600700 light-years in southern Ophiuchus. The Pipe Nebula is located directly east of Antares and directly north of Shaula and Lesath. The above graphic displays these two stars but not the Pipe Nebula.
Ophiuchus in myth and star lore
Ophiuchus is thought to be the sky god Asclepius, the Greek deity of medicine and physicians. He is consistently shown clutching a large serpent or snake. A snake’s venom can also be either lethal or therapeutic, depending on how it is applied. According to legend, Asclepius created a healing elixir with the venom of Serpens the Serpent, Gorgon’s blood, and an unidentified herb. Up until Pluto, the god of the underworld, made a request to the ruler of the gods, this elixir granted people access to immortality. Zeus was prompted to reevaluate the effects of the death of death by Pluto.
We don’t really understand Pluto’s appeal. Maybe what he meant to say was that no mortal can have one without the other and that nothing that never lives never dies. The inherent moral of the narrative may have been best summed up by Sophocles who said:
Better to pass away and experience the never-ending sleep than to continue living when the soul has passed away.
The poet T.S. Eliot may have repeated the idea of the eternal story in his Four Quartets:
We pass away with the dead:
The dead are born with us:
In any case, Asclepius was banished from Earth and placed in the starry heavens by Zeus, who also allegedly seized the potion. The World Health Organization’s and other medical organizations’ Staff of Asclepius insignia pays homage to this tale and mirrors the impressive celestial form of the constellation Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.
Ophiuchus in history and science
Within our own Milky Way galaxy, a supernova explosion of a star has not been observed in more over 400 years. However, a supernova known as Kepler’s Supernova erupted in the year 1604, being visible to the human eye for 18 months. It glowed not too distant from the Pipe Nebula in southern Ophiuchus.
Tycho’s supernova in Cassiopeia in 1572 was followed closely by Kepler’s supernova in 1604. The European intelligentsia, which strongly believed in the Aristotelian idea of an unchangeable world outside the circle of the moon, was shocked by these supernovae. Tycho Brahe measured the parallax of the supernova in 1572, establishing that it was not an atmospheric occurrence. The supernova actually shined well beyond the moon’s orbit. Shortly after, Kepler’s Supernova in 1604 seemed to make the argument crystal clear once more.
Tycho Brahe also discovered that a comet was further away than the moon when he estimated its distance in 1577. Aristotelians wanted to think that comets were gases burning in the atmosphere, but Tycho once more discredited the idea of Aristotle’s unchanging universe.
Conclusion: Ophiuchus, the Serpent Bearer, is a fictitious member of the zodiac because the sun passes through its borders for about two weeks out of every year. Find out how to find Ophiuchus and the differences between astrological signs and astronomy constellations.
Is Ophiuchus a unique sign?
Aries is the second-rarest zodiac sign, followed by Sagittarius, both of which are fire signs, according to Stardust.
Stardust claims that Aries is the first sign of the zodiac and that this sign is known for having an inspirational jolt that “gets everyone going and moving. The third-rarest sign of the zodiac, Sagittarius, “falls during the autumn season and are renowned to be adventurous and free-spirited,” according to Stardust.
Ophiuchusis he a god?
In Greek mythology, Ophiuchus stands in for Asclepius, the god of medicine. Apollo’s son Asclepius was instructed by the centaur Chiron. Hades was concerned when he discovered how to raise the dead.
What is the spirit animal of Ophiuchus?
These signals are not accurately calibrated, though. Using a celestial planisphere, we can see that from November 30 to December 18, the Sun is located in Ophiuchus, sometimes known as the serpent bearer or snake charmer, one of those lesser-known constellations. Of necessity, everyone born during these dates belong to the zodiac sign of Ophiuchus.
If we continue to look at how the Sun’s position relates to the background of stars, we will notice that very little matches the zodiacal signs to which we are used in horoscopes:
Based on the boundaries between constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1930, the following table depicts the actual zodiacal signs.
Why does Ophiuchus not appear in the horoscope as a zodiacal constellation? Why are the dates different? The Sun travelled across each of the zodiacal constellations on different dates than it does today, or roughly four weeks earlier, when the horoscope was first created 2,500 years ago in ancient Babylon.
According to calculations made by contemporary astronomers, the Sun now enters Aries on April 19 of every year without fail. But because of the Earth’s axial precession, the Sun is like a clock that is off by around 30 minutes annually. This delay has been building up over many centuries, and today it is over a month after when the Babylonians recorded it and when the horoscopes say it should.
The horoscope for each individual would then be considered to correlate to the sign that comes before the one that their modern horoscope represents. But this is also untrue. The Sun only spends a week crossing Scorpio and a month and a half in Virgo; these times of passage are identical to those of 2,500 years ago and greatly differ from the Babylonian astrologers’ arbitrary division of one month for each sign of the horoscope, who decided to omit Ophiuchus and maintain a rounder number of 12 signs, as in the 12-month calendar.
By using that calendar, Babylonian astrologers could forecast when summer would arrive or when it would be best to reap their crops. Because of the social influence this gave them, they began to broaden their forecasts to include things like war outcomes or a person’s characteristics based on their zodiac sign.
Whom ought Ophiuchus to wed?
I’m not personally impacted by the increased discussion surrounding Ophiuchus, the thirteenth zodiac sign, as I’m a proud (and predictably stubborn) Taurus. Not all people agree that the sign, which spans those born between November 29 and December 17, is a component of the recognized zodiac. It is between the signs of Scorpio and Sagittarius. However, learning about the background of the sign and the psychological traits of Ophiuchus is still fascinating. Most importantly, you could be even more interested in learning about the Ophiuchus sign’s characteristics in relationships and which signs are most and least compatible with them if you utilize astrology for love (because who doesn’t?).
For all you Slytherins out there, Ophiuchus (pronounced Of-ee-You-Cus, for those of you who were as baffled as I was) literally means “serpent bearer” and represents a human being entangled with a snake. They have a complex personality, and their ideal mate is (naturally) someone who can balance them out and put up with some of their less desirable characteristics.
Wong asserts that the key to a successful connection with Ophiuchus is to respect their need for praise as well as their want to feel unrestricted and free. The ideal spouse shouldn’t need as much praise and should have inner confidence to improve what an Ophiuchus can offer, according to her, and should be intelligent but content in a “supporting role.” “Like the cast of a movie that highlights the actor, the perfect spouse must provide a solid foundation for the partnership.
The five signs that get along best with an Ophiuchus are listed below in case you’re wondering if you would be a good match.
Pisces (February 19 – March 20)
Ophiuchus and the amorous Pisces, which Neptune rules, complement each other beautifully since they are both imaginative daydreamers. The needs of Ophiuchus in a romantic relationship are well suited for Pisces, who gives their all to partnerships and prefers to play a more supportive role. Wong claims that these two signals are able to communicate their feelings and emotions with ease. Furthermore, she adds, “both signals are adaptable to different contexts, so they would work well together at times of change.
Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)
Capricorn and Ophiuchus would get along great because Capricorn is a realistic, goal-oriented, and ambitious sign. Wong claims that both of them are motivated by ideas, dedicated workers, and competitors in both their professional and personal life. Since they are aware that some things are required when you want to reach your goals, both partners will be sympathetic and understanding when one spouse needs to put in extra time at work. While Capricorn has no issue with Ophiuchus spending time for themselves, they will gladly assist them if they require a sympathetic ear to vent to. Capricorn will act as a stabilizing force if Ophiuchus enters one of their moods. These two have all the ingredients for a successful power marriage.
Ophiuchus (November 29 to December 17)
Not all zodiac signs can successfully date someone who is also of their sign when it comes to romantic relationships. After all, your negative characteristics are likely to reflect back to you. Wong, however, believed that a pair with two Ophiuchus signs would get along quite well. An Ophiuchus is constantly looking for amusement, therefore it stands to reason that they would get along well with others of their type, especially when traveling, she claims.
Cancer (June 21 – July 22)
Cancer is another delicate Water sign that Ophiuchus seems to handle rather well. Wong asserts that because both Cancer and Ophiuchus are possessive and devoted signs, they complement one another well. “The latter characteristic occasionally borders on envy,” claims Wong. However, it opens the door for both the physical and emotional fulfillment that are essential to a happy relationship. Ophiuchus truly loves a spouse who, like Pisces, is content to play the supporting role. Overall, it’s an excellent match since Cancer will make Ophiuchus feel comfortable and needed, and vice versa.
Libra (September 23 – October 22)
“According to Wong, Ophiuchus and Libra are excellent partners since they are both intellectuals, creative thinkers, and art enthusiasts. Wong describes Libra as a gentle blend of Capricorn and Pisces. They’ll get along immediately away and engage in long-lasting, fascinating chats. Libra and Ophiuchus share a “a desire to explore the unknown and find new locations. Another relationship-focused sign that is obsessed with keeping their partner happy is Libra. Libra will give Ophiuchus any room they need if they ask for it. Libra is more than glad to show them love if they need someone to reassure them. Most likely, these two signs would begin as friends before developing a more passionate relationship.
What distinguishes Sagittarius from Ophiuchus?
An old report was the catalyst for everything. The 13th zodiac sign, Ophiuchus, or the serpent-bearer, was “found” by NASA. Anyone born between November 29 and December 17 would now be an Ophiuchus instead of a Scorpio or a Sagittarius. Scorpio’s window would be reduced to just seven days, and the entire astrological chart would move, changing the star signs of some Pisces, Leos, and Libras. As astrology enthusiasts online began to freak out, NASA subtly entered the conversation to clarify.
Ophiucus Does Not Have An Element
Earth Ophiuchus lacks an element, in contrast to the other signs that do, such as fire, water, and air. So, I suppose you can just give yourself one. Picking up flames.