What's the difference between astronomy and astrology?

Although astronomy and astrology are historicallyand on some major events in the person's life.
related and many individuals were interested in both,According to astrology much can be told about a
there is today no connection between the two. Henceperson and the person's future based on this
two different USENET newsgroups exist: sci.astro (forknowledge of the alignment of planets and stars at the
the former) and alt.astrology (for the latter). DO NOTmoment of birth. One problem with astrology is that
CONFUSE THEM.the materials used to determine the locations of
Astronomy is based on the laws of physics (andplanets stars and constellations are centuries old; they
therefore mathematics) and aims at describing what isare old enough so that as a result of precession they
happening to the universe based on what we observeno longer are in agreement with the true positions of
today. Because the laws of physics are constant (asthe heavenly bodies. There is no widely accepted
far as we can tell), astronomy can also explain howevidence that the claims of astrology have anything
the universe behaved in the past and can propose amore than individually attested or anecdotal merit.
limited number of possible scenarios for its future (seeAstronomy is the study of anything that we can
FAQ entry about Big Bang).observe in the sky basically from the sun and planets
Everyday life applications of astronomy includeon out. A lot of astronomy has to do with careful
calculations/predictions of sunrise/sunset times, moonmeasurements of the true and apparent movements
phases, tides, eclipse locations, comet visibility,of celestial bodies, measurements of various kinds of
encounters between various celestial bodies (e.g., SL9energy emanating from stars and other bodies, the
comet crash onto Jupiter in 1994), spacecrafteffects of gravitation, speculation about planetary and
trajectories, etc. Astrology on the other hand claims ituniversal origins, black holes, discovery of new planets
can predict what will happen to individuals (or guessand other objects, research into the likelihood that
what is happening to them), or to mankind, based onsome forms of life might exist in other parts of the
such things as solar system configurations and birthsolar system/universe, planning for manned and
dates. Common applications include horoscopes andun-manned missions to other parts of the solar
such. Regardless of whether there is scientific supportsystem, etc.
for astrology, its goal and methods are clearly distinctAt one time astrology and astronomy were more
from those of astronomy.closely related, and perhaps hardly distinguishable. That
 Astrology is based on the belief that the positions ofis no longer the case; they are independent areas of
the planets and stars at the moment of a person'sstudy.
birth have an effect on the personality of the person