Sky on May 1, 2021: where the Sun, Moon and planets really were

The real sky on May 1, 2021: Sun in Aries (horoscope says "Taurus"), Moon 75% lit, planet positions from ephemerides.

The sky on May 1, 2021 — as it really was

That day the Sun stood in Aries, while the horoscope says "Taurus". The gap is 24.2° of precession.

astronomy-engine ephemerides (VSOP87/ELP), IAU 1930 constellation boundaries. Positions accurate to a fraction of a degree.

Checkable facts with a tag and a source; the classical reading is in the chart.

The Moon that day [EXACT]
waning gibbous, 75% lit; the Moon was 369,707 km away.
astronomy-engine
How far Earth has travelled since [EXACT]
5.4 orbits of the Sun — 5,104 million km, that is 6,638 return trips to the Moon; 1,983 rotations of Earth; with the Sun — 39.4 billion km around the Galactic centre, 1.5 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 303 million km away; today it is 244 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 25, right at the minimum (13% through the cycle).
SILSO smoothed minima
When the sky repeats [EXACT]
Mars returns to that day’s point of its orbit on December 22, 2026; Jupiter — in 2033; a full moon exactly on this date — May 1, 2045
sidereal periods: Mars 686.98 d, Jupiter 11.862 yr
How far the sky has drifted since [EXACT]
The vernal point has shifted 252″ since that day; the real constellations now sit 24.2° 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/ap210501.html
NASA APOD

Computed from the date only; nothing about you is stored.