| Ancient astronomers noted that the Sun makes a yearly journey across the celestial sphere, part of which is represented in this picture by the blue band. The ancient astronomers associated dates with the constellations in this narrow belt (which is known as the zodiac), assigning to each constellation of stars the dates when the Sun was in the same region of the celestial sphere as the constellation. The twelve zodiacal signs for these constellations were named by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, as follows: Aries (ram), Taurus (bull), Gemini (twins), Cancer (crab), Leo (lion), Virgo (virgin), Libra (balance), Scorpio (scorpion), Sagittarius (archer), Capricorn (goat), Aquarius (water-bearer), and Pisces (fishes). |
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