NASA: No, we havent changed your zodiac sign

CLAIM: NASA has officially announced a 13th zodiac sign, Ophiuchus, after discovering a new constellation, meaning your zodiac star has changed.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. NASA is the federal agency dedicated to studying and exploring astronomy, not astrology, and has not made any such announcement.

THE FACTS: Social media users are passing around an old hoax once again, claiming that NASA has officially established a 13th zodiac sign. The claim, which also contends that the entire zodiac system has now been realigned, is circulating in popular Facebook posts.

NASA confirmed that it has made no such announcement last week in a post to its website and on its official Twitter account.

“We see your comments about a zodiac story that re-emerges every few years,” NASA said in a July 16 tweet, sharing a link to a 2016 blog post that explains the zodiac’s history. “No, we did not change the zodiac.”

In an online statement, NASA said the Babylonians created the zodiac 3,000 years ago, centering it around 12 constellations to pair with each month of their 12-month calendar. That statement did note that the Babylonians’ ancient stories identified 13 constellations and they left off one -- Ophiuchus -- to match the calendar. Though that’s been known for centuries -- it isn’t a new discovery by NASA or anyone else.

“So, we didn’t change any zodiac signs … we just did the math,” NASA said in the online post.

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This is part of The Associated Press’ ongoing effort to fact-check misinformation that is shared widely online, including work with Facebook to identify and reduce the circulation of false stories on the platform.

Here’s more information on Facebook’s fact-checking program: https://www.facebook.com/help/1952307158131536

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