The sky on December 21, 1942 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Sagittarius — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 269.0° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Sagittarius
- ☽︎ Moon — 76.7° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ☿︎ Mercury — 280.4° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♀︎ Venus — 277.5° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♂︎ Mars — 244.1° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Scorpius
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 112.9° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ♄︎ Saturn — 67.5° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ☽︎ Moon 99% 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]
full moon, 99% lit; the Moon was 404,473 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
83.8 orbits of the Sun — 78,742 million km, that is 102,421 return trips to the Moon; 30,603 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 608.1 billion km around the Galactic centre, 23.5 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 357 million km away; today it is 245 million km (closer by 1.5×).
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 August 11, 2027; Jupiter — in 2037; a full moon exactly on this date — December 20, 2029
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 4,212″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 23.1° away from the astrologers’ “signs”.
precession 50.29″/yr
Other dates
Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.