The sky on February 17, 1969 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Aquarius — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 328.7° · sign Aquarius · constellation Aquarius
- ☽︎ Moon — 339.4° · sign Pisces · constellation Aquarius
- ☿︎ Mercury — 302.9° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ♀︎ Venus — 13.5° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ♂︎ Mars — 236.4° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 184.8° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ♄︎ Saturn — 21.6° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ☽︎ Moon 1% 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]
new moon, 1% lit; the Moon was 371,818 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
57.6 orbits of the Sun — 54,162 million km, that is 70,449 return trips to the Moon; 21,050 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 418.3 billion km around the Galactic centre, 16.1 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 186 million km away; today it is 243 million km (farther by 1.3×).
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 (38% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on June 9, 2027; Jupiter — in 2028.
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.