Sky on January 1, 1978: where the Sun, Moon and planets really were

The real sky on January 1, 1978: Sun in Sagittarius (horoscope says "Capricorn"), Moon 61% lit, planet positions from ephemerides.

The sky on January 1, 1978 — as it really was

That day the Sun stood in Sagittarius, while the horoscope says "Capricorn". The gap is 23.6° 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, 61% lit; the Moon was 387,201 km away.
astronomy-engine
How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
48.8 orbits of the Sun — 45,820 million km, that is 59,600 return trips to the Moon; 17,808 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 353.9 billion km around the Galactic centre, 13.7 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 103 million km away; today it is 245 million km (farther by 2.4×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14
Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 21, right at the minimum (18% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima
When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on November 26, 2026; Jupiter — in 2037; a full moon exactly on this date — December 31, 2028
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr
How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 2,448″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 23.6° away from the astrologers’ “signs”.
precession 50.29″/yr

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