Sky on December 17, 1973: where the Sun, Moon and planets really were

The real sky on December 17, 1973: Sun in Ophiuchus (horoscope says "Sagittarius"), Moon 42% lit, planet positions from ephemerides.

The sky on December 17, 1973 — as it really was

That day the Sun stood in Ophiuchus, while the horoscope says "Sagittarius". The gap is 23.5° of precession.

astronomy-engine ephemerides (VSOP87/ELP), IAU 1930 constellation boundaries. Positions accurate to a fraction of a degree.

Checkable facts with a tag and a source; the classical reading is in the chart.

The Moon that day [EXACT]
last quarter, 42% lit; the Moon was 384,474 km away.
astronomy-engine
How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
52.8 orbits of the Sun — 49,621 million km, that is 64,544 return trips to the Moon; 19,285 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 383.2 billion km around the Galactic centre, 14.8 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 244 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 (81% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima
When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on July 3, 2028; Jupiter — in 2032; a full moon exactly on this date — December 16, 2032
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr
How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 2,628″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 23.5° away from the astrologers’ “signs”.
precession 50.29″/yr

Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.