The sky on December 21, 1968 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Sagittarius — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 269.7° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Sagittarius
- ☽︎ Moon — 294.4° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ☿︎ Mercury — 277.8° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♀︎ Venus — 313.6° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ♂︎ Mars — 205.2° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 184.7° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ♄︎ Saturn — 18.7° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ☽︎ Moon 5% 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 crescent, 5% lit; the Moon was 360,565 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
57.8 orbits of the Sun — 54,306 million km, that is 70,637 return trips to the Moon; 21,106 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 419.4 billion km around the Galactic centre, 16.2 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 273 million km away; today it is 245 million km (closer by 1.1×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 20, on the rise to maximum (37% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on April 12, 2027; Jupiter — in 2027; 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 2,880″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 23.4° away from the astrologers’ “signs”.
precession 50.29″/yr
Other dates
Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.