Starry Night Pro FAQ

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Set the time to a time of day where the sun will be above the horizon all year, for example 12 Noon. Select "Sky | Daylight" to turn off sunlight, so that you can see the background stars. Turn on the Zodiac constellations by choosing "Guides | Constellations | Zodiac". You may also want to turn on the solstice and equinox markers by choosing "Guides | Vernal/Autumnal Equinox" and "Guides | Summer/Winter Solstice". Change the timestep in the Time Palette to 1 day and press the Play button to run time forward and watch the sun move through the Zodiac.

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Astrology uses the constellation boundaries as they existed several thousand years ago. Since that time, the stars have shifted in the sky, due to the precession of the earth, and the astronomical constellation boundaries no longer match the astrological constellation boundaries. Starry Night shows the astronomical constellation boundaries. With Starry Night, you can set the time back to about 600 BC (when the astrological boundaries were set), and you will find that the dates when the sun is in each constellation now much the astrological dates.

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Adjust the date and time to your birthdate in the Time Palette. If you were born during daylight, choose "Sky | Daylight" to turn off daylight so that you can see the stars as they appeared at the moment of your birth. Turn on the Zodiac constellations by selecting "Guides | Constellations | Zodiac" and label the Zodiac constellations by selecting "Guides | Constellations | Labels". The constellation which the sun is located in is your astronomical birth sign. This may not agree with your astrological sign, for the reasons given in the previous question.

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