The sky on December 21, 1981 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Sagittarius — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 269.5° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Sagittarius
- ☽︎ Moon — 216.2° · sign Scorpio · constellation Virgo
- ☿︎ Mercury — 275.7° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♀︎ Venus — 306.9° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ♂︎ Mars — 182.5° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 214.4° · sign Scorpio · constellation Virgo
- ♄︎ Saturn — 200.8° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ☽︎ Moon 20% 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]
waning crescent, 20% lit; the Moon was 403,706 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
44.8 orbits of the Sun — 42,089 million km, that is 54,746 return trips to the Moon; 16,358 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 325.1 billion km around the Galactic centre, 12.5 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 209 million km away; today it is 246 million km (farther by 1.2×).
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 11, 2027; Jupiter — in 2028; a full moon exactly on this date — December 20, 2029
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.