The sky on January 20, 1928 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Capricornus — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 299.2° · sign Capricorn · constellation Capricornus
- ☽︎ Moon — 271.1° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ☿︎ Mercury — 306.7° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ♀︎ Venus — 259.7° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Ophiuchus
- ♂︎ Mars — 271.0° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 359.5° · sign Pisces · constellation Pisces
- ♄︎ Saturn — 255.5° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Ophiuchus
- ☽︎ Moon 6% illuminated
astronomy-engine ephemerides (VSOP87/ELP), IAU 1930 constellation boundaries. Positions accurate to a fraction of a degree.
The day’s dossier, from real data
Checkable facts with a tag and a source; the classical reading is in the chart.
- The Moon that day [EXACT]
waning crescent, 6% lit; the Moon was 392,521 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
98.7 orbits of the Sun — 92,766 million km, that is 120,663 return trips to the Moon; 36,054 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 716.5 billion km around the Galactic centre, 27.7 light-days.
29.78 km/s along the orbit; 230 km/s around the Galactic centre - Mars then and now [EXACT]
On that day Mars was 342 million km away; today it is 244 million km (closer by 1.4×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on September 27, 2027; Jupiter — in 2035; a full moon exactly on this date — January 19, 2030
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 4,968″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 22.9° away from the astrologers’ “signs”.
precession 50.29″/yr
Other dates
Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.