<p>In this case, <a href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/" rel="nofollow">Wolfram|Alpha</a> has you covered.  For example, look at the result for <a href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=which%20constellation%20was%20the%20sun%20in%20Jan%201%201400" rel="nofollow">"which constellation was the Sun in Jan 1 1400"</a>.  That said, I'm not sure this calculate includes the precession of the Earth's rotation axis, since I would've expected it to get my astrological birth sign right in 500 BC.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-03T04:54:38.850Z
2016-03-03T04:54:38.850Z
Warrick
<p>There are plenty of online planetarium sites which should be able to do this for you. <a href="http://neave.com/planetarium/" rel="nofollow">This one</a> is the first hit for a Google search for "online planetarium software"</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-26T09:13:37.727Z
thank you this one's great except i cant see the sun because it hasn't rise at the time, do you perhaps know of some online website that shows the whole celestial sphere from inside? thanks again...
user7549
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-26T09:18:29.550Z
@user7549 You could keep the time but flip your location to the daylight side of the world, the Sun will still be in the same place against the fixed stars. Or use one that will allow you to look below the horizon (the one I have on my android tablet allows that).
Conrad Turner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-26T09:49:42.847Z
i think i cant see the land below horizon..anyway i will use the software stelarium. thanks. regards.
user7549
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-28T09:53:02.683Z
In Stellarium, you can disable the land (and the horizon,...) and can e. g. enable constellation lines with the buttons on the lower left.
hiergiltdiestfu
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-02T13:57:48.723Z
Are you endorsing the neave planetarium? I can't find anything about the source of it's data. [The earth's precession](http://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/14749/7982) affects the sun's position in the zodiac and who knows what neave is using. [Stellarium](http://www.stellarium.org/) is a fairly well vetted off-line program. For *on-line* sites, [in-the-sky.org](https://in-the-sky.org/) is quite handy, and is based on the [JPL DE405 ephemeris](https://in-the-sky.org/about)  - for years between about 1600 and 2200AD.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-02T15:50:34.600Z
@uhoh No, I'm just reporting it as the first hit, there are more than you can shake a stick at.
Conrad Turner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-02T15:53:22.927Z
I see what you mean! But maybe not as many as [this guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Orion_constellation_Hevelius.jpg) can.
uhoh
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-26T08:31:42.470Z
2015-06-26T08:31:42.470Z
Conrad Turner
<ul>
<li>If you're talking about short time periods and don't need a lot of detail, a lookup table such as this one: <a href="http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/starfinder3/en/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/starfinder3/en/</a> will work just fine.</li>
<li>For more detail, you'll have to calculate the position of the Sun on the background stars and determine that moment when the position crosses the (somewhat arbitrarily defined) constellation boundaries. Wikipedia has good introductory equations to determine the Sun's position (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Position_of_the_Sun" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Position_of_the_Sun</a>) though David Colarusso's site has much more information: <a href="http://www.davidcolarusso.com/astro/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.davidcolarusso.com/astro/</a>. There are other equations you can use to determine which side of the line the Sun's position lies: <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1560492/how-to-tell-whether-a-point-is-to-the-right-or-left-side-of-a-line">https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1560492/how-to-tell-whether-a-point-is-to-the-right-or-left-side-of-a-line</a>.</li>
<li>For long time periods, you'll have to do what's in the previous point and also determine how the Earth's position changes in relation to the Sun and where in the galaxy the Sun lies. I'll leave that as an exercise for you since I'm not sure you want that level of detail.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-30T15:35:40.090Z
2015-06-30T15:35:40.090Z
2017-05-23T12:37:21.700Z
blamblambunny
<p>I would like to check in which constellation the Sun was in at some time in the past, any recommendations how to do that?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-26T09:00:17.257Z
Do you mean spatially? Or directionally from our current position? Constellations are defined as relative to our view, so changing our view will essentially destroy the relative view that results in our constellations.
Mitch Goshorn
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-26T09:12:09.443Z
from our current position earth
user7549
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-26T09:50:03.710Z
i will use the software stelarium.. thanks. regards
user7549
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-05-02T12:38:21.930Z
you might consider accepting one of the answers if you think it's appropriate
uhoh
<positional-astronomy>
How/where to check where the Sun is (constellation)?
user7549
# How/where to check where the Sun is (constellation)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-06-26)

I would like to check in which constellation the Sun was in at some time in the past, any recommendations how to do that?

**Tags:** positional-astronomy

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Do you mean spatially? Or directionally from our current position? Constellations are defined as relative to our view, so changing our view will essentially destroy the relative view that results in our constellations.  
> **username_0**: from our current position earth  
> **username_0**: i will use the software stelarium.. thanks. regards  
> **username_2**: you might consider accepting one of the answers if you think it's appropriate  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2016-03-03. Score: 1

In this case, [Wolfram|Alpha](http://www.wolframalpha.com/) has you covered. For example, look at the result for ["which constellation was the Sun in Jan 1 1400"](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=which%20constellation%20was%20the%20sun%20in%20Jan%201%201400). That said, I'm not sure this calculate includes the precession of the Earth's rotation axis, since I would've expected it to get my astrological birth sign right in 500 BC.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2015-06-26. Score: 1

There are plenty of online planetarium sites which should be able to do this for you. [This one](http://neave.com/planetarium/) is the first hit for a Google search for "online planetarium software"

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: thank you this one's great except i cant see the sun because it hasn't rise at the time, do you perhaps know of some online website that shows the whole celestial sphere from inside? thanks again...  
> **username_4**: @username_0 You could keep the time but flip your location to the daylight side of the world, the Sun will still be in the same place against the fixed stars. Or use one that will allow you to look below the horizon (the one I have on my android tablet allows that).  
> **username_0**: i think i cant see the land below horizon..anyway i will use the software stelarium. thanks. regards.  
> **username_5**: In Stellarium, you can disable the land (and the horizon,...) and can e. g. enable constellation lines with the buttons on the lower left.  
> **username_2**: Are you endorsing the neave planetarium? I can't find anything about the source of it's data. [The earth's precession](http://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/14749/7982) affects the sun's position in the zodiac and who knows what neave is using. [Stellarium](http://www.stellarium.org/) is a fairly well vetted off-line program. For *on-line* sites, [in-the-sky.org](https://in-the-sky.org/) is quite handy, and is based on the [JPL DE405 ephemeris](https://in-the-sky.org/about)  - for years between about 1600 and 2200AD.  
> **username_4**: @username_2 No, I'm just reporting it as the first hit, there are more than you can shake a stick at.  
> **username_2**: I see what you mean! But maybe not as many as [this guy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Orion_constellation_Hevelius.jpg) can.  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2015-06-30. Score: 1

* If you're talking about short time periods and don't need a lot of detail, a lookup table such as this one: <http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/starfinder3/en/> will work just fine.
* For more detail, you'll have to calculate the position of the Sun on the background stars and determine that moment when the position crosses the (somewhat arbitrarily defined) constellation boundaries. Wikipedia has good introductory equations to determine the Sun's position (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Position_of_the_Sun>) though David Colarusso's site has much more information: <http://www.davidcolarusso.com/astro/>. There are other equations you can use to determine which side of the line the Sun's position lies: <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1560492/how-to-tell-whether-a-point-is-to-the-right-or-left-side-of-a-line>.
* For long time periods, you'll have to do what's in the previous point and also determine how the Earth's position changes in relation to the Sun and where in the galaxy the Sun lies. I'll leave that as an exercise for you since I'm not sure you want that level of detail.


---

