The sky on May 18, 1996 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Taurus — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 57.8° · sign Taurus · constellation Taurus
- ☽︎ Moon — 69.5° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ☿︎ Mercury — 52.5° · sign Taurus · constellation Aries
- ♀︎ Venus — 88.2° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ♂︎ Mars — 41.7° · sign Taurus · constellation Aries
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 287.4° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♄︎ Saturn — 4.4° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ☽︎ Moon 1% 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, 1% lit; the Moon was 397,251 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
30.4 orbits of the Sun — 28,554 million km, that is 37,141 return trips to the Moon; 11,097 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 220.5 billion km around the Galactic centre, 8.5 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 356 million km away; today it is 244 million km (closer by 1.5×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 22, on the decline (98% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on May 9, 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 1,512″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 23.8° away from the astrologers’ “signs”.
precession 50.29″/yr - Picture of the day [EXACT]
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day for this date: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap960518.html
NASA APOD
Other dates
Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.