Birthday signs · Capricorn season
What zodiac sign is December 22?
Sampling the noon UTC Sun from 1930 through 2030, December 22 appears in Capricorn in 87 years and in Sagittarius in 14 of 101. On December 22, the noon Sun varied from 29.68° Sagittarius to 1.17° Capricorn. The birth year and time are what decide which sign applies to December 22.
Calculated across 1930–2030 · checked .
December 22: Capricorn or Sagittarius
| Capricorn at noon UTC | 87 of 101 years |
|---|---|
| Sagittarius at noon UTC | 14 of 101 years |
| Sagittarius years include | 1930, 1931 and 1934 |
| Settled by | birth year and time |
December 22 at a glance
| Sign | ♑︎ Capricorn (87 years) or ♐︎ Sagittarius (14) |
|---|---|
| Element and mode | earth, cardinal |
| Polarity | negative (feminine) |
| Ruler | Saturn (traditional) |
| Sun on this date | 29.7° Sagittarius to 1.2° Capricorn at noon UTC, 1930–2030 |
| Day of the season | Capricorn day 1 or 2; Sagittarius day 30 |
| Decan | first (0°–10°), face of Jupiter |
| Sidereal sign (Lahiri) | Sagittarius |
| Day number | 22 (modern numerology) |
Rulers: Ptolemy; modern list.6
The decan: early Capricorn
| Noon Sun | 29.68° Sagittarius to 1.17° Capricorn |
|---|---|
| Decan | first (0°–10°) |
| Face ruler, Chaldean order | Jupiter |
| Sagittarius years | 29.68°–29.99° Sagittarius |
Faces after Lilly, in Chaldean order.3
December 22 by the numbers
| Day number | 22 () |
|---|---|
| Month-day number | 7 (3 + 22 = 25, then 2 + 5 = 7) |
| System | modern numerology, digit sums |
Digit sums as numerology guides give them.4
Where the date falls in the season
| Day of Capricorn season | 1 or 2 (in its Capricorn years) |
|---|---|
| Day of Sagittarius season | 30 (in its Sagittarius years) |
| Capricorn season opened | December 21 (5 years) or December 22 (82) |
| Capricorn season closed | January 19 (49 years) or January 20 (38) |
| Element and mode | earth, cardinal |
| Traditional ruler | Saturn |
Seasons by the noon-UTC rule; rulers after Ptolemy.2
Born at this point in Capricorn season
Born in the first stretch of Capricorn, this person arrives at the year's turn with a habit of counting what is left before starting anything new. Winter light is thin, and the early-season restlessness shows up as a wish to get the list in order. Some years that steadiness feels like a gift to the people nearby. Other years it looks like stubbornness they did not choose. Either way, they keep returning to the same question: what is actually worth carrying into the next year?
Interpretation, not prediction.
The sidereal sign
| Sidereal sign, Lahiri ayanamsa | Sagittarius, all 101 years |
|---|---|
| Noon Sun, sidereal Sagittarius | 6.1°–7.5° |
| Convention | Indian (Vedic) astrology |
Ayanamsa convention.5
Born on December 22
- Diocletian (244–316), Augustus of the Eastern Roman Empire
- Jean Racine (1639–1699), French dramatist
- Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924), Italian opera composer
- Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920), Indian mathematician
- Ralph Fiennes (1962), English actor, director and producer
- Vanessa Paradis (1972), French singer, model and actress
- Basshunter (1984), Swedish singer, record producer, and DJ
- Joshua Bassett (2000), American actor and singer-songwriter
Birth dates checked on Wikidata.7
December 22 in history
Observed on this date:
- Dongzhi Festival
- Armed Forces Day (Vietnam)
- Mother's Day (Indonesia)
- National Mathematics Day (India)
- Teachers' Day (Cuba)
- Unity Day (Zimbabwe)
Events on December 22:
- 880: Luoyang, eastern capital of the Tang dynasty, is captured by rebel leader Huang Chao during the reign of Emperor Xizong.
- 1885: Itō Hirobumi, a samurai, becomes the first Prime Minister of Japan.
- 1937: The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.
- 1975: U.S. President Gerald Ford creates the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in response to the 1970s energy crisis.
- 2016: A study finds the VSV-EBOV vaccine against the Ebola virus between 70 and 100% effective, making it the first proven vaccine against the disease.
How the answer was worked out
From 1930 through 2030, the Sun's tropical longitude on December 22 was calculated at noon UTC each year with Astronomy Engine, and each year's sign was read from that longitude.1 How the Machine works
Questions people also ask
What zodiac sign is December 22?
For December 22, the usual sign at noon UTC is Capricorn, found in 87 of 101 sampled years, and Sagittarius in the remaining 14.
Is December 22 on a zodiac cusp?
Yes. In some years the Sun moved from Sagittarius into Capricorn during December 22, so at noon UTC the sample splits into Capricorn in 87 years and Sagittarius in 14, and the birth year and time settle which sign applies.
What decan is December 22?
Under the Chaldean order, the face ruler is Jupiter for December 22, which is in the first decan of Capricorn (0°–10°) in every sampled year.
What is the birthday number for December 22?
December 22's day number in modern numerology is 22, and its month-day number is 7, both found by adding digits.
Sources
- Astronomy Engine JavaScript reference — Don Cross, Astronomy Engine. Verified .
- Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, Book I — LacusCurtius, University of Chicago. Verified .
- Decan (astrology): the faces of the planets (after Lilly) — Wikipedia. Verified .
- Life Path Number — Numerology.com (practitioner site). Verified .
- Ayanamsa (Lahiri and other sidereal conventions) — Wikipedia. Verified .
- Capricorn (astrology) — Wikipedia. Verified .
- Wikipedia: December 22 — Wikipedia (Wikimedia On this day feed); birth dates checked on Wikidata. Verified .