Sky on January 3, 1979: where the Sun, Moon and planets really were

The real sky on January 3, 1979: Sun in Sagittarius (horoscope says "Capricorn"), Moon 29% lit, planet positions from ephemerides.

The sky on January 3, 1979 — 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]
waxing crescent, 29% lit; the Moon was 368,860 km away.
astronomy-engine
How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
47.8 orbits of the Sun — 44,878 million km, that is 58,374 return trips to the Moon; 17,442 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 346.6 billion km around the Galactic centre, 13.4 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 359 million km away; today it is 244 million km (closer by 1.5×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14
Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 21, on the rise to maximum (27% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima
When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on November 28, 2027; Jupiter — in 2038; a full moon exactly on this date — January 3, 2045
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr
How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 2,376″ 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.