In astrology, a horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the planets, other celestial bodies, and sensitive angles at the time of any moment in time or any event, such as a person's birth. The term horoscope is derived from Greek words meaning, "a look at the hours." Other commonly used names for the horoscope in English include natal chart, natus, birth chart, astrological chart, astro-chart, celestial map, sky-map, nativity, cosmogram, Vitasphere, soulprint, radical chart, radix, or simply chart, among others.

Introduction

Opinions about the validity of astrology, or its classification as a pseudoscience are considered in the head article on astrology.

Using an ephemeris and a table of houses an astrologer calculates the geocentric positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets for a specific time and place in order to erect a formatted horoscope. This diagram, called a chart is a stylized map of the heavens. The Sun or the Earth is placed in the centre (depending on whether the ephemeris was heliocentric or geocentric) with the remaining elements around the outside: the planets, the lunar nodes, the ascendant and midheaven, and the houses. Then the angles between the planets are determined. These angles are the astrological aspects. Different systems of tri-secting arcs produce houses of different size.

In common usage, the word horoscope also refers to the astrologer's interpretation of the astrological chart.

In particular, many newspapers and magazines carry horoscope columns, describing planetary positions and influences for the various astrological signs. Most astrologers regard those as nearly worthless, since a horoscope is actually highly personalized, and cannot be generalized to thousands of readers.

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