By extension, the "zodiac of the comets" may refer to the band encompassing most short-period comets. The zodiac of a given planet is the band that contains the path of that particular body e.g., the "zodiac of the Moon" is the band of 5° above and below the ecliptic. The term "zodiac" may also refer to the region of the celestial sphere encompassing the paths of the planets corresponding to the band of about 8 arc degrees above and below the ecliptic. Īlthough the zodiac remains the basis of the ecliptic coordinate system in use in astronomy besides the equatorial one, the term and the names of the twelve signs are today mostly associated with horoscopic astrology. The construction of the zodiac is described in Ptolemy's comprehensive 2nd century AD work, the Almagest. The zodiac was in use by the Roman era, based on concepts inherited by Hellenistic astronomy from Babylonian astronomy of the Chaldean period (mid-1st millennium BC), which, in turn, derived from an earlier system of lists of stars along the ecliptic. Modern zodiac wheel showing the 12 signs used in horoscopic astrology
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