Starry Night layout matches real sky

Researchers combining astronomical simulations and star-position data suggest the sky in Van Gogh’s The Starry Night was based on real observation, rather than pure imagination

Around Jul 22, 1889: Pre-dawn sky over Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, seen from where Vincent Van Gogh painted, matches artwork, with waning crescent moon, Venus and Hyades star cluster close together

Shape analysis confirms match between five central stars in painting and Hyades cluster, part of Taurus constellation

Venus
Moon
TAURUS
HYADES STAR CLUSTER
Theta Tauri
Gamma Tauri
Epsilon Tauri
Delta Tauri
Aldebaran
Hyades
Venus
Moon

Van Gogh took inspiration from his window view at Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Rémy, where he sought treatment for mental illness in 1889-90

Sources: Nature, MoMA
Picture: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Digitized Sky Survey 2
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