The sky on August 17, 1982 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Leo — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 144.3° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ☽︎ Moon — 122.1° · sign Leo · constellation Cancer
- ☿︎ Mercury — 164.9° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♀︎ Venus — 123.7° · sign Leo · constellation Cancer
- ♂︎ Mars — 218.3° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 214.0° · sign Scorpio · constellation Virgo
- ♄︎ Saturn — 198.3° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ☽︎ Moon 4% 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, 4% lit; the Moon was 362,588 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
44.1 orbits of the Sun — 41,475 million km, that is 53,948 return trips to the Moon; 16,119 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 320.3 billion km around the Galactic centre, 12.4 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 208 million km away; today it is 245 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, on the decline (62% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on October 8, 2027; Jupiter — in 2029; a full moon exactly on this date — August 17, 2027
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 2,196″ 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.