)For identical reasons, the apparent position of the Sun relative to the backdrop of the stars at some seasonally fixed time slowly regresses a full 360° through all twelve traditional constellations of the zodiac, at the rate of about 50.3 seconds of arc per year, or 1 degree every 71.6 years.At present, the rate of precession corresponds to a period of 25,772 years, but the rate itself varies somewhat with time (see Values below), so one cannot say that in exactly 25,772 years the earth's axis will be back to where it is now.