The sky on December 18, 1962 — 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 — 171.2° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ☿︎ Mercury — 278.8° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♀︎ Venus — 226.3° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ♂︎ Mars — 144.4° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 336.8° · sign Pisces · constellation Aquarius
- ♄︎ Saturn — 308.5° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ☽︎ Moon 54% 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]
last quarter, 54% lit; the Moon was 402,192 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
63.8 orbits of the Sun — 59,958 million km, that is 77,989 return trips to the Moon; 23,303 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 463.1 billion km around the Galactic centre, 17.9 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 131 million km away; today it is 244 million km (farther by 1.9×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 19, on the decline (83% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on November 29, 2026; Jupiter — in 2033; 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 3,204″ 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.