The sky on March 14, 2002 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Pisces — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 353.7° · sign Pisces · constellation Pisces
- ☽︎ Moon — 358.2° · sign Pisces · constellation Pisces
- ☿︎ Mercury — 333.9° · sign Pisces · constellation Aquarius
- ♀︎ Venus — 8.0° · sign Aries · constellation Cetus
- ♂︎ Mars — 39.1° · sign Taurus · constellation Aries
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 95.9° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ♄︎ Saturn — 69.1° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ☽︎ Moon 0% 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, 0% lit; the Moon was 406,628 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
24.6 orbits of the Sun — 23,080 million km, that is 30,021 return trips to the Moon; 8,970 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 178.3 billion km around the Galactic centre, 6.9 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 305 million km away; today it is 245 million km (closer by 1.2×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 23, near maximum (46% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on July 13, 2028; Jupiter — in 2038; a full moon exactly on this date — March 13, 2044
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 1,224″ 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/ap020314.html
NASA APOD
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