The sky on October 21, 1974 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Virgo, while the horoscope says "Libra". The gap is 23.5° of precession.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 207.7° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ☽︎ Moon — 280.3° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ☿︎ Mercury — 216.6° · sign Scorpio · constellation Virgo
- ♀︎ Venus — 203.6° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ♂︎ Mars — 205.4° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 338.3° · sign Pisces · constellation Aquarius
- ♄︎ Saturn — 108.8° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ☽︎ Moon 35% 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]
first quarter, 35% lit; the Moon was 398,862 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
52 orbits of the Sun — 48,826 million km, that is 63,509 return trips to the Moon; 18,976 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 377.1 billion km around the Galactic centre, 14.6 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 390 million km away; today it is 245 million km (closer by 1.6×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 20, on the decline (88% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on June 20, 2027; Jupiter — in 2033; a full moon exactly on this date — October 21, 2059
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 2,592″ 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.