# Researchers trace Van Gogh’s Starry Night to July 1889 sky

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/scientists-pinpoint-the-exact-sky-that-inspired-van-goghs-the-starry-night/
- Published: 2026-10-22T15:44:49+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-22T15:56:41+00:00
- Original publisher: Daily Mail (publisher lean: Right)
- Original article: https://www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/article-16229661/Van-Goghs-Starry-Night-Sky.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490
- Topics: Art, Celebrity, Culture, Entertainment, Research, Science, World

## Key points

- Researchers date the sky in *The Starry Night* to 22 July 1889.
- The Moon, Venus and Hyades cluster align with that night’s sky.
- The finding challenges the painting’s traditional June dating.

## Summary

Researchers say they have identified the night sky that inspired Vincent van Gogh’s *The Starry Night*: just before dawn on 22 July 1889, as seen from his room in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. Their finding supports the idea that the painting reflects a real view and challenges its traditional dating to around 18 June.

The team compared astronomical reconstructions with two of Van Gogh’s reliably dated night-sky paintings, *Café Terrace at Night* and *Starry Night over the Rhône*, which they found showed recognisable star patterns. They then reconstructed the view from Saint-Rémy and matched the painting’s waning crescent Moon, Venus and the Hyades cluster in Taurus to the July sky. The study was published in *Scientific Reports*.

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