Astronomy - Intro to zodiac

Good evening, students. As promised, we are moving on to the zodiac. The significance of the zodiac stems from the fact that the ecliptic -- the narrow path on the sky that the Sun, Moon, and planets appear to follow -- runs directly through these star groupings. Since ancient times, the Sun, Moon, and planets have been known as special astronomical objects -- they "wander" through the background stars of the zodiac, which remain fixed with respect to each other. It was reasoned that these zodiacal constellations must be special to make up this path, and the relative positions of the "wandering stars" within them bore great importance. Below is a list of the zodiac constellations by Latin name, and then by English name:
	Aries - The Ram
	Taurus - The Bull
	Gemini - The Twins
	Cancer - The Crab
	Leo - The Lion
	Virgo - The Maiden
	Libra - The Scales
	Scorpio - The Scorpion
	Sagittarius - The (Centaur) Archer
	Capricorn - "Goat Mountain" or "Goat-horned" (The Sea-Goat)
	Aquarius - The Water Bearer
	Pisces - The Fish
The zodiacal signs are distinct from the constellations associated with them, not only because of their drifting apart due to the precession of equinoxes but also because the physical constellations take up varying widths of the ecliptic, so the Sun is not in each constellation for the same amount of time. Thus, Virgo takes up five times as much ecliptic longitude as Scorpius. The zodiacal signs are an abstraction from the physical constellations, and each represent exactly one twelfth of the full circle, or the longitude traversed by the Sun in about 30.4 days. When you are done taking notes, you may move on to the homework.