The sky on August 17, 1937 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Leo — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 144.1° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ☽︎ Moon — 271.2° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ☿︎ Mercury — 171.5° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♀︎ Venus — 104.3° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ♂︎ Mars — 244.0° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Scorpius
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 288.7° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♄︎ Saturn — 4.3° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ☽︎ Moon 80% 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]
waxing gibbous, 80% lit; the Moon was 400,823 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
89.1 orbits of the Sun — 83,768 million km, that is 108,960 return trips to the Moon; 32,557 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 647 billion km around the Galactic centre, 25 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 125 million km away; today it is 244 million km (farther by 1.9×).
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 28, 2027; Jupiter — in 2032; a full moon exactly on this date — August 17, 2027
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 4,464″ 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.