The sky on November 17, 1999 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Libra, while the horoscope says "Scorpio". The gap is 23.9° of precession.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 234.7° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ☽︎ Moon — 337.8° · sign Pisces · constellation Aquarius
- ☿︎ Mercury — 231.0° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ♀︎ Venus — 189.1° · sign Libra · constellation Virgo
- ♂︎ Mars — 293.3° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 26.8° · sign Aries · constellation Pisces
- ♄︎ Saturn — 42.8° · sign Taurus · constellation Aries
- ☽︎ Moon 61% 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, 61% lit; the Moon was 386,347 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
26.9 orbits of the Sun — 25,267 million km, that is 32,865 return trips to the Moon; 9,820 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 195.1 billion km around the Galactic centre, 7.5 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 241 million km away; today it is 244 million km (farther by 1×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 23, on the rise to maximum (27% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on February 3, 2028; Jupiter — in 2035; 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 1,332″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 23.9° 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/ap991117.html
NASA APOD
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