The sky on September 21, 1939 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Virgo — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 177.6° · sign Virgo · constellation Virgo
- ☽︎ Moon — 279.7° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ☿︎ Mercury — 176.7° · sign Virgo · constellation Virgo
- ♀︎ Venus — 181.8° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ♂︎ Mars — 299.1° · sign Capricorn · constellation Capricornus
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 4.6° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ♄︎ Saturn — 30.0° · sign Taurus · constellation Pisces
- ☽︎ Moon 61% 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]
first quarter, 61% lit; the Moon was 398,281 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
87 orbits of the Sun — 81,796 million km, that is 106,394 return trips to the Moon; 31,790 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 631.7 billion km around the Galactic centre, 24.4 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 84 million km away; today it is 245 million km (farther by 2.9×).
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 February 14, 2028; Jupiter — in 2034; a full moon exactly on this date — September 20, 2040
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 4,356″ 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.