Key difference: Zodiac is an instrument of astrology used to reveal about a person’s nature, depending upon the sun’s movement at the time of his/her birth. A sun sign of a person can be any one of the twelve zodiac signs that the sun occupies during his/her birth.

Zodiac is a form of western astrology, where the movement of the sun at the time of a person’s birth brings forth revelations about his/her physical traits, characteristics, state of mind, etc. To understand the zodiac signs conversantly, one has to first know what zodiac is, and the way it functions. In simple terminology, zodiac can be defined as a circular path comprising of twelve 30 degree segments, known as the various signs of zodiac. This circular path is also known as the ecliptic, the path that the sun takes to revolve around an imaginary sphere around earth, known as the celestial sphere. The point where the sun begins its 360 degree journey is at zero degrees, or the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox also marks the beginning of the first sign of zodiac, which is the Aries. As the sun moves along the ecliptic, it passes the various signs of zodiac, occupying each for a while, in order to pass through it completely. A Person born in a time that is the same as the duration of sun’s occupation of a particular sign, will fall under that specific sign of zodiac. Consequently, his/her traits, habits, behavior, etc. will be determined by this movement of the sun, which is what the zodiac signs are all about.

The zodiac is also called as the circle of life, which is why the signs of zodiac carry the names and depictions of living beings such as animals and humans. The twelve signs of zodiac are as follows:

It is an established fact that the sun traverses through the ecliptic in the course of a year. Along the way, the sun passes all the zodiac signs and their constellations. This it does by entering into a sign, staying in it for a month, and leaving it to step into another sign at the end of the month. A person’s sun sign is nothing but the sign that the sun has entered into, or has occupied, at the time of his/her birth. Given this definition, the plausible counter argument of the sun sign and the zodiac being the same follows naturally. However, it is notable that in sun sign astrology, only the position of the sun is studied with respect to other stars and planetary bodies. In fact, sun signs only account for the placements affecting the sun, and not vice versa. The sun signs are a fairly familiar topic in the western parts of the world, as the people there are well acquainted with their sun signs. Also, sun signs are also known as star signs due to the fact that the sun is understood to be essentially a star, in terms of science and astronomy.

Therefore, zodiac and sun sign are quite similar to each other, but they’re in no way the same.

Comparison between Zodiac and Sun sign:

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