The sky on December 18, 1958 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Sagittarius — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 266.1° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Sagittarius
- ☽︎ Moon — 1.6° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ☿︎ Mercury — 249.6° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Ophiuchus
- ♀︎ Venus — 275.1° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♂︎ Mars — 46.6° · sign Taurus · constellation Aries
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 231.4° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ♄︎ Saturn — 267.9° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Sagittarius
- ☽︎ Moon 55% 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, 55% lit; the Moon was 401,606 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
67.8 orbits of the Sun — 63,717 million km, that is 82,878 return trips to the Moon; 24,764 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 492.1 billion km around the Galactic centre, 19 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 94 million km away; today it is 244 million km (farther by 2.6×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 19, on the rise to maximum (45% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on July 21, 2028; Jupiter — in 2029; a full moon exactly on this date — December 17, 2051
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 3,384″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 23.3° away from the astrologers’ “signs”.
precession 50.29″/yr
Other dates
Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.