The sky on October 9, 1988 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Virgo, while the horoscope says "Libra". The gap is 23.7° of precession.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 196.4° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ☽︎ Moon — 181.0° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ☿︎ Mercury — 200.3° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ♀︎ Venus — 155.7° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♂︎ Mars — 2.2° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 65.8° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ♄︎ Saturn — 267.2° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Sagittarius
- ☽︎ Moon 2% 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, 2% lit; the Moon was 404,904 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
38 orbits of the Sun — 35,704 million km, that is 46,441 return trips to the Moon; 13,876 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 275.8 billion km around the Galactic centre, 10.6 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 62 million km away; today it is 243 million km (farther by 3.9×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 22, on the rise to maximum (21% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on April 9, 2028; Jupiter — in 2035.
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 1,908″ 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.