Korean team identifies exact July 1889 night sky that inspired Van Gogh’s Starry Night
Korean astronomers have determined that the celestial scene depicted in Van Gogh’s The Starry Night matches the sky just before dawn on July 22 1889.
Researchers from Kyung Hee University and SLLAB applied astronomical simulations to several of Van Gogh’s nocturnal works, confirming that Café Terrace at Night and Starry Night over the Rhône accurately portray known constellations. Extending this method to The Starry Night, lead author Elijah Jeong-hyun Kim identified the exact celestial configuration—waning crescent moon, Venus, and the Hyades in Taurus—that would have been visible from the window of Van Gogh’s room in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in the early hours of July 22 1889.
Historical weather data suggest a clear sky, and references to cicadas in Van Gogh’s letters corroborate the summer heat. Statistical analysis matched the five central stars to the Hyades, and a related pen drawing shows an even tighter correspondence. The study, appearing in Scientific Reports, argues that Van Gogh painted the scene he observed and completed the work in the days that followed.
Why it matters
It confirms that Van Gogh’s iconic painting is a faithful record of a real night sky, linking art and astronomy.
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