Age of Aquarius

What is the Age of Aquarius, and when does it begin? The Age of Aquarius isn’t part of astronomy. It’s an astrological age, which occurs because of a real motion of Earth known as precession. Precession is what causes the identity of the Pole Star to change over time. The cycle of precession lasts 25,800 years, and there are 12 constellations of the zodiac. So, roughly every 2,150 years, the sun’s location in front of the background stars – at the time of the March, or vernal, equinox – moves in front of a new zodiacal constellation. The Age of Aquarius begins at the point when the sun is no longer in front of the constellation Pisces at the time of the March equinox. At that point – sometimes called the March equinox point, or vernal equinox point – the equinox sun will be in front of the constellation Aquarius.

It seems as if there should be a clear cut answer to these questions.

• When will the sun be in front of Aquarius at the time of the March equinox?
• When will the Age of Aquarius begin?

There are no clearcut answers.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) – which in the 20th century assumed the duty of officially naming and defining all things astronomical – created official constellation boundaries in 1930. From the perspective of astronomy, then, the beginning of the Age of Aquarius is based upon IAU constellation boundaries, which astrologers or New Age practitioners might or might not choose to use in their computations.

According to the Belgian astronomer and mathematical wizard Jean Meeus, who does adhere to the IAU’s definitions, the sun at the March equinox passed from being in front of the constellation Aries to being in front of the constellation Pisces in 68 B.C. Looking ahead, again according to Jean Meeus, the March equinox will cross over into the constellation Aquarius in 2597. Once again, these are the astronomical dates, based on IAU constellation boundaries established in 1930.

The constellations as defined by the IAU are different sizes. Astrologers often like to divide the zodiac into twelve equal sections. For example, the constellation Pisces – as defined by the IAU – spans more than 30 degrees along the ecliptic, or sun’s annual path in front of constellations of the zodiac. Astrologers, though, might disregard the span of the constellation Pisces on the sky’s dome, and instead regard an astrological age as a precise 30 degree shift of the March equinox in front of the backdrop stars.  SOURCE:  EarthSky.org