The sky on December 11, 1981 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Ophiuchus, while the horoscope says "Sagittarius". The gap is 23.6° of precession.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 259.4° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Ophiuchus
- ☽︎ Moon — 81.3° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ☿︎ Mercury — 259.9° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Ophiuchus
- ♀︎ Venus — 301.7° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ♂︎ Mars — 177.8° · sign Virgo · constellation Virgo
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 212.7° · sign Scorpio · constellation Virgo
- ♄︎ Saturn — 200.1° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ☽︎ Moon 100% 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]
full moon, 100% lit; the Moon was 357,028 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
44.8 orbits of the Sun — 42,116 million km, that is 54,781 return trips to the Moon; 16,368 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 325.3 billion km around the Galactic centre, 12.6 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 223 million km away; today it is 245 million km (farther by 1.1×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 21, near maximum (55% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on February 1, 2027; Jupiter — in 2028; a full moon exactly on this date — December 11, 2057
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 2,232″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 23.6° away from the astrologers’ “signs”.
precession 50.29″/yr
Other dates
Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.