The sky on December 7, 1988 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Ophiuchus, while the horoscope says "Sagittarius". The gap is 23.7° of precession.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 255.6° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Ophiuchus
- ☽︎ Moon — 234.7° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ☿︎ Mercury — 259.0° · sign Sagittarius · constellation Ophiuchus
- ♀︎ Venus — 227.2° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ♂︎ Mars — 8.9° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 59.1° · sign Taurus · constellation Taurus
- ♄︎ Saturn — 272.7° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ☽︎ Moon 3% 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, 3% lit; the Moon was 390,467 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
37.8 orbits of the Sun — 35,551 million km, that is 46,243 return trips to the Moon; 13,817 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 274.6 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 114 million km away; today it is 243 million km (farther by 2.1×).
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 (23% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on June 7, 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 1,872″ 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.