The sky on May 18, 1986 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Taurus — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 57.3° · sign Taurus · constellation Taurus
- ☽︎ Moon — 164.9° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ☿︎ Mercury — 51.8° · sign Taurus · constellation Aries
- ♀︎ Venus — 86.3° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ♂︎ Mars — 290.4° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 348.3° · sign Pisces · constellation Aquarius
- ♄︎ Saturn — 247.1° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Scorpius
- ☽︎ Moon 65% 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]
first quarter, 65% lit; the Moon was 380,802 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
40.4 orbits of the Sun — 37,952 million km, that is 49,366 return trips to the Moon; 14,750 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 293.1 billion km around the Galactic centre, 11.3 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 95 million km away; today it is 244 million km (farther by 2.6×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 21, on the decline (97% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on October 4, 2027; Jupiter — in 2033.
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 2,016″ 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.