The sky on December 21, 1955 — 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 — 348.2° · sign Pisces · constellation Pisces
- ☿︎ Mercury — 278.3° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♀︎ Venus — 296.5° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♂︎ Mars — 224.6° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 151.5° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♄︎ Saturn — 237.8° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ☽︎ Moon 41% 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, 41% lit; the Moon was 391,239 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
70.8 orbits of the Sun — 66,525 million km, that is 86,531 return trips to the Moon; 25,855 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 513.8 billion km around the Galactic centre, 19.8 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 325 million km away; today it is 245 million km (closer by 1.3×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 19, right at the minimum (16% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on June 11, 2027; Jupiter — in 2026; 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 3,564″ 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.