The sky on November 17, 1985 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Libra, while the horoscope says "Scorpio". The gap is 23.7° of precession.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 235.1° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ☽︎ Moon — 302.0° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ☿︎ Mercury — 254.9° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Ophiuchus
- ♀︎ Venus — 219.9° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ♂︎ Mars — 193.1° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 310.3° · sign Aquarius · constellation Capricornus
- ♄︎ Saturn — 240.0° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Libra
- ☽︎ Moon 31% 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]
waxing crescent, 31% lit; the Moon was 376,702 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
40.9 orbits of the Sun — 38,420 million km, that is 49,974 return trips to the Moon; 14,932 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 296.7 billion km around the Galactic centre, 11.5 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 338 million km away; today it is 245 million km (closer by 1.4×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 21, on the decline (93% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on April 5, 2027; Jupiter — in 2032; a full moon exactly on this date — November 17, 2032
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 2,052″ 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.