The sky on February 17, 1985 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Aquarius — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 328.8° · sign Aquarius · constellation Aquarius
- ☽︎ Moon — 302.4° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ☿︎ Mercury — 327.3° · sign Aquarius · constellation Aquarius
- ♀︎ Venus — 12.5° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ♂︎ Mars — 11.1° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 302.5° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ♄︎ Saturn — 237.8° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ☽︎ Moon 5% 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, 5% lit; the Moon was 390,870 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
41.6 orbits of the Sun — 39,122 million km, that is 50,887 return trips to the Moon; 15,205 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 302.2 billion km around the Galactic centre, 11.7 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 302 million km away; today it is 245 million km (closer 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 (85% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on May 23, 2028; Jupiter — in 2032.
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 2,088″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 23.7° away from the astrologers’ “signs”.
precession 50.29″/yr
Other dates
Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.