The sky on February 16, 1959 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Aquarius — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 327.1° · sign Aquarius · constellation Aquarius
- ☽︎ Moon — 64.6° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ☿︎ Mercury — 328.9° · sign Aquarius · constellation Aquarius
- ♀︎ Venus — 350.2° · sign Pisces · constellation Aquarius
- ♂︎ Mars — 62.6° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 240.6° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Libra
- ♄︎ Saturn — 274.3° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ☽︎ Moon 57% 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, 57% lit; the Moon was 402,056 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
67.6 orbits of the Sun — 63,564 million km, that is 82,679 return trips to the Moon; 24,704 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 490.9 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 174 million km away; today it is 243 million km (farther by 1.4×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 19, near maximum (46% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on November 2, 2026; Jupiter — in 2030; a full moon exactly on this date — February 16, 2041
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.