The night sky on your birthday: October 17
October 17 is day 291 of the year. Here is what the sky holds for everyone born on it — and a way to get the real sky above the exact place and hour you were born.
The Sun's constellation on October 17
On your birthday the Sun stands in front of Virgo, even though horoscopes call October 17 Libra: the zodiac signs were fixed about 2,000 years ago and the sky has drifted since (precession of the equinoxes). Because the Sun is in Virgo, that constellation is hidden in daylight on your birthday: you see it best around six months later.
Overhead at midnight on October 17
- Northern hemisphere (40°N — New York, Madrid, Beijing): Andromeda, Triangulum, Perseus and Pisces; brightest stars high up: Capella (51°), Aldebaran (46°) and Deneb (36°).
- Southern hemisphere (40°S — Melbourne, Buenos Aires region, Wellington): Phoenix, Eridanus, Fornax and Sculptor; brightest stars high up: Achernar (73°), Fomalhaut (55°) and Canopus (42°).
Meteor showers around October 17
Active on your birthday: Orionids (4 days from peak). On a dark night away from city lights you can make a wish on a real shooting star.
The Moon on your next birthday
On the evening of October 17, 2027 the Moon will be waning gibbous (94% lit): bright moonlight will wash out the faint stars.
The exact sky of the night you were born
These are averages for a latitude. Your own sky depends on the city, the year and the hour: Firmament draws the real stars, constellations, Moon and planets above your birthplace at your birth time, as a print-ready A3 poster — $4.99, delivered instantly as a PDF.
Make the sky of the night you were born — $4.99
Set your year and city on the next page; the day and month are already filled in.