The sky on August 16, 1944 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Leo — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 143.5° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ☽︎ Moon — 117.4° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ☿︎ Mercury — 169.9° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♀︎ Venus — 157.3° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♂︎ Mars — 172.0° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 154.5° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♄︎ Saturn — 96.9° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ☽︎ Moon 5% 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]
waning crescent, 5% lit; the Moon was 398,874 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
82.1 orbits of the Sun — 77,190 million km, that is 100,403 return trips to the Moon; 30,000 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 596.2 billion km around the Galactic centre, 23 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 367 million km away; today it is 244 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 May 20, 2027; Jupiter — in 2027; a full moon exactly on this date — August 16, 2065
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 4,104″ 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.