What is the zodiac?

The zodiac is an imaginary belt in the sky, with the ecliptic as the center line and the width of 18. The sun, the moon and the planets in the solar system all move in this area. The constellations divided by stars in the Zodiac are mostly animal images, so they are named Zodiac, which means "animal circle".

The ecliptic is divided into 12 equal parts, each equal part occupies 30 degrees of the ecliptic, which is called the ecliptic. The zodiac signs are named after their constellations, and each sign is given a special symbol. Starting from the vernal equinox, the twelve constellations of 12 are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. In a year, the sun moves from west to east every day 1. About once a month. For example, on the evening of June 65438+1 October 1 Sunday, the starry sky in the setting direction of the western horizon is Pisces, so if you look at the starry sky in the setting direction of the western horizon on February1Sunday and evening 18, it will become Aries. Taurus, Gemini ...

In order to observe the movements of the sun, the moon and the five planets and determine the seasons, astronomers in ancient China divided the moon around 12 times, which is similar to the western zodiac. This time 12 was originally along the celestial equator. It is said that after the late Ming Dynasty, 12 was used to translate the Chinese zodiac.