The sky on September 21, 1971 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Virgo — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 177.8° · sign Virgo · constellation Virgo
- ☽︎ Moon — 198.4° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ☿︎ Mercury — 164.0° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♀︎ Venus — 184.5° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ♂︎ Mars — 312.8° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 241.4° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Libra
- ♄︎ Saturn — 66.5° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ☽︎ Moon 3% 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, 3% lit; the Moon was 406,525 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
55 orbits of the Sun — 51,722 million km, that is 67,277 return trips to the Moon; 20,102 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 399.5 billion km around the Galactic centre, 15.4 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 71 million km away; today it is 246 million km (farther by 3.4×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 20, on the decline (61% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on February 23, 2028; Jupiter — in 2030; a full moon exactly on this date — September 20, 2040
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 2,772″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 23.5° away from the astrologers’ “signs”.
precession 50.29″/yr
Other dates
Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.