The sky on December 17, 1950 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Ophiuchus, while the horoscope says "Sagittarius". The gap is 23.2° of precession.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 265.0° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Ophiuchus
- ☽︎ Moon — 9.3° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ☿︎ Mercury — 285.3° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♀︎ Venus — 273.1° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♂︎ Mars — 301.7° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 332.2° · sign Pisces · constellation Aquarius
- ♄︎ Saturn — 181.8° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ☽︎ Moon 62% 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, 62% lit; the Moon was 396,642 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
75.8 orbits of the Sun — 71,237 million km, that is 92,660 return trips to the Moon; 27,687 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 550.2 billion km around the Galactic centre, 21.2 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 305 million km away; today it is 244 million km (closer by 1.3×).
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 28, 2028; Jupiter — in 2033; a full moon exactly on this date — December 16, 2032
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 3,816″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 23.2° away from the astrologers’ “signs”.
precession 50.29″/yr
Other dates
Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.