The sky on August 20, 1938 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Leo — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 146.8° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ☽︎ Moon — 78.2° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ☿︎ Mercury — 160.7° · sign Virgo · constellation Sextans
- ♀︎ Venus — 191.8° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ♂︎ Mars — 138.3° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 327.4° · sign Aquarius · constellation Aquarius
- ♄︎ Saturn — 17.7° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ☽︎ Moon 32% 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]
last quarter, 32% lit; the Moon was 368,359 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
88.1 orbits of the Sun — 82,821 million km, that is 107,727 return trips to the Moon; 32,188 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 639.6 billion km around the Galactic centre, 24.7 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 396 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 January 13, 2027; Jupiter — in 2033; a full moon exactly on this date — August 20, 2062
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 4,428″ 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.