The sky on August 1, 1973 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Cancer, while the horoscope says "Leo". The gap is 23.5° of precession.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 129.1° · sign Leo · constellation Cancer
- ☽︎ Moon — 165.6° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ☿︎ Mercury — 113.0° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ♀︎ Venus — 158.9° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♂︎ Mars — 24.8° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 306.9° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ♄︎ Saturn — 90.0° · sign Gemini · constellation Gemini
- ☽︎ Moon 10% 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, 10% lit; the Moon was 374,018 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
53.2 orbits of the Sun — 49,974 million km, that is 65,003 return trips to the Moon; 19,423 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 386 billion km around the Galactic centre, 14.9 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 108 million km away; today it is 245 million km (farther by 2.3×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 20, on the decline (77% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on February 16, 2028; Jupiter — in 2032; a full moon exactly on this date — August 1, 2061
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 2,664″ 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.