Zodiac sign dates and what happens if you were born on the cusp
The dates of the twelve sun signs and why they shift by a day depending on the year. What to do if your birthday falls right on the edge between two signs.
Your sun sign is the sign the Sun was in on the day you were born. The dates of each sign look fixed, but they aren't entirely: the Sun changes sign at a precise moment that shifts by a few hours from one year to the next.
For almost everyone it makes no difference. For someone born on the edge between two signs — the «cusp» — it's the difference between one sign and another.
The dates of the twelve signs
These are the usual dates, which are also the ones Molino uses.
- Aries: March 21 to April 19.
- Taurus: April 20 to May 20.
- Gemini: May 21 to June 20.
- Cancer: June 21 to July 22.
- Leo: July 23 to August 22.
- Virgo: August 23 to September 22.
- Libra: September 23 to October 22.
- Scorpio: October 23 to November 21.
- Sagittarius: November 22 to December 21.
- Capricorn: December 22 to January 19.
- Aquarius: January 20 to February 18.
- Pisces: February 19 to March 20.
Why the dates shift by a day
The calendar year lasts 365 days, but the Sun takes about 365 days and 6 hours to return to the same point. Each year the change of sign happens about six hours later, until February 29 resets it. The time also depends on the time zone: the Sun can enter Aries on the night of March 20 in Buenos Aires and in the early hours of the 21st in Madrid.
If you were born on the cusp
In astrology there are no in-between signs: the Sun is in one sign or the next. What does exist is doubt about which one it was in. If you were born on the first or last day of a sign, the only way to know for sure is an ephemeris, which gives the exact time of the change that year; with your time and place of birth, you get the answer.
Molino uses the table of usual dates, without the time. If your birthday is a change day, take the sign it gives you as the most likely and check it against an ephemeris if you want certainty.
Signs and constellations aren't the same
The signs of Western astrology are counted from the March equinox, in equal 30-degree segments. The constellations with the same names no longer match those segments because of the precession of the equinoxes, which is why every so often there's news that «the signs have changed». They haven't: they're two different systems, and Western astrology has always used the first.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a thirteenth sign, Ophiuchus?
Ophiuchus is a constellation the Sun passes through, but not a sign. Western astrology divides the sky into twelve equal segments that don't depend on the constellations.
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