The sky on July 21, 2015 — as it really was
That day the Sun stood in Cancer — sign and constellation agree here.
Bodies on the ecliptic (noon UTC)
- ☉︎ Sun — 118.4° · sign Cancer · constellation Cancer
- ☽︎ Moon — 179.3° · sign Virgo · constellation Virgo
- ☿︎ Mercury — 115.7° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ♀︎ Venus — 150.5° · sign Virgo · constellation Leo
- ♂︎ Mars — 107.9° · sign Cancer · constellation Gemini
- ♃︎ Jupiter — 145.6° · sign Leo · constellation Leo
- ♄︎ Saturn — 238.4° · sign Scorpio · constellation Libra
- ☽︎ Moon 26% 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]
waxing crescent, 26% lit; the Moon was 404,822 km away.
astronomy-engine - How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
11.2 orbits of the Sun — 10,531 million km, that is 13,698 return trips to the Moon; 4,093 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 81.3 billion km around the Galactic centre, 3.1 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 387 million km away; today it is 246 million km (closer by 1.6×).
astronomy-engine; checked against JPL Horizons for 2026-09-14 - Solar cycle [ESTIMATE]
That day fell in solar cycle 24, on the decline (60% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima - When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on November 2, 2026; 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 540″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 24.1° 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/ap150721.html
NASA APOD
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