The sky on January 2, 1976 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Sagittarius, while the horoscope says "Capricorn". The gap is 23.5° of precession.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 281.2° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ☽︎ Moon — 292.1° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ☿︎ Mercury — 299.5° · sign Capricorn · constellation Capricornus
- ♀︎ Venus — 241.2° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Libra
- ♂︎ Mars — 77.0° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 15.6° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ♄︎ Saturn — 120.9° · sign Leo · constellation Cancer
- ☽︎ Moon 1% 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, 1% lit; the Moon was 386,130 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
50.8 orbits of the Sun — 47,703 million km, that is 62,048 return trips to the Moon; 18,540 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 368.4 billion km around the Galactic centre, 14.2 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 94 million km away; today it is 244 million km (farther by 2.6×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 20, on the decline (99% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on October 14, 2026; Jupiter — in 2035; a full moon exactly on this date — January 2, 2037
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 2,556″ 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.