The sky on December 21, 1947 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Sagittarius — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 268.8° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Sagittarius
- ☽︎ Moon — 7.4° · sign Aries · constellation Cetus
- ☿︎ Mercury — 261.4° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Ophiuchus
- ♀︎ Venus — 295.9° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♂︎ Mars — 155.7° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 252.8° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Ophiuchus
- ♄︎ Saturn — 142.4° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ☽︎ Moon 58% 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, 58% lit; the Moon was 393,079 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
78.8 orbits of the Sun — 74,043 million km, that is 96,310 return trips to the Moon; 28,777 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 571.9 billion km around the Galactic centre, 22.1 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 147 million km away; today it is 245 million km (farther by 1.7×).
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 December 19, 2026; Jupiter — in 2030; 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 3,960″ 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.