The sky on August 18, 1936 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Leo — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 145.3° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ☽︎ Moon — 161.0° · sign Virgo · constellation Sextans
- ☿︎ Mercury — 167.2° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♀︎ Venus — 159.1° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♂︎ Mars — 125.2° · sign Leo · constellation Cancer
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 254.7° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Ophiuchus
- ♄︎ Saturn — 350.9° · sign Pisces · constellation Aquarius
- ☽︎ Moon 2% 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]
new moon, 2% lit; the Moon was 398,109 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
90.1 orbits of the Sun — 84,704 million km, that is 110,177 return trips to the Moon; 32,920 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 654.2 billion km around the Galactic centre, 25.3 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 379 million km away; today it is 244 million km (closer by 1.6×).
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 November 29, 2026; Jupiter — in 2031; a full moon exactly on this date — August 18, 2054
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 4,536″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 23° away from the astrologers’ “signs”.
precession 50.29″/yr
Other dates
Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.