The sky on August 14, 2003 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Leo — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 141.3° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ☽︎ Moon — 349.4° · sign Pisces · constellation Aquarius
- ☿︎ Mercury — 168.7° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♀︎ Venus — 140.1° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ♂︎ Mars — 338.5° · sign Pisces · constellation Aquarius
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 147.2° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ♄︎ Saturn — 98.9° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ☽︎ Moon 94% 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]
waning gibbous, 94% lit; the Moon was 390,389 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
23.1 orbits of the Sun — 21,748 million km, that is 28,288 return trips to the Moon; 8,452 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 168 billion km around the Galactic centre, 6.5 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 57 million km away; today it is 245 million km (farther by 4.3×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 23, near maximum (57% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on January 26, 2028; Jupiter — in 2027.
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr - How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 1,152″ 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/ap030814.html
NASA APOD
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