The sky on May 13, 1974 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Aries, while the horoscope says "Taurus". The gap is 23.5° of precession.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 52.3° · sign Taurus · constellation Aries
- ☽︎ Moon — 312.6° · sign Aquarius · constellation Aquarius
- ☿︎ Mercury — 62.7° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ♀︎ Venus — 9.7° · sign Aries · constellation Cetus
- ♂︎ Mars — 103.9° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 343.3° · sign Pisces · constellation Aquarius
- ♄︎ Saturn — 92.4° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ☽︎ Moon 59% 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]
last quarter, 59% lit; the Moon was 403,981 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
52.4 orbits of the Sun — 49,243 million km, that is 64,051 return trips to the Moon; 19,138 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 380.3 billion km around the Galactic centre, 14.7 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 311 million km away; today it is 244 million km (closer 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 decline (84% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on January 10, 2027; Jupiter — in 2033; a full moon exactly on this date — May 12, 2063
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
Other dates
Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.