The sky on August 20, 1953 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Leo — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 147.2° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ☽︎ Moon — 268.9° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Sagittarius
- ☿︎ Mercury — 130.7° · sign Leo · constellation Cancer
- ♀︎ Venus — 108.8° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ♂︎ Mars — 133.9° · sign Leo · constellation Cancer
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 81.8° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ♄︎ Saturn — 203.1° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ☽︎ Moon 76% 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]
waxing gibbous, 76% lit; the Moon was 379,495 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
73.1 orbits of the Sun — 68,724 million km, that is 89,392 return trips to the Moon; 26,710 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 530.8 billion km around the Galactic centre, 20.5 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 391 million km away; today it is 244 million km (closer by 1.6×).
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 27, 2026; Jupiter — in 2036; a full moon exactly on this date — August 20, 2062
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 3,672″ 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.