The sky on May 18, 2008 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Taurus — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 57.9° · sign Taurus · constellation Taurus
- ☽︎ Moon — 220.5° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ☿︎ Mercury — 78.9° · sign Gemini · constellation Taurus
- ♀︎ Venus — 52.1° · sign Taurus · constellation Aries
- ♂︎ Mars — 124.7° · sign Leo · constellation Cancer
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 292.2° · sign Capricorn · constellation Sagittarius
- ♄︎ Saturn — 151.9° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ☽︎ Moon 98% 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]
full moon, 98% lit; the Moon was 404,914 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
18.4 orbits of the Sun — 17,275 million km, that is 22,470 return trips to the Moon; 6,714 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 133.4 billion km around the Galactic centre, 5.2 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 266 million km away; today it is 245 million km (closer by 1.1×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 23, on the decline (96% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on March 10, 2027; 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 900″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 24° 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/ap080518.html
NASA APOD
Other dates
Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.