Researchers Date Starry Night Sky to July 1889
A team led by Elijah Jeong-hyun Kim says the sky in Van Gogh's painting matches a predawn view around July 22, 1889, not June.
Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Space
Researchers led by Elijah Jeong-hyun Kim published a study in Scientific Reports disputing the long-accepted June 1889 dating of Van Gogh's The Starry Night. They matched the painting's crescent moon and Venus to a predawn sky around July 22, 1889.
Why it matters
The finding challenges a dating that art historians have long accepted, showing how astronomical analysis can revise details of a famous artwork. It also shows how the painter's view from the asylum in Saint-Remy de Provence may have been shaped by sketches and memory.
The study used forensic astronomy and weather analyses to compare the painting's moon shape and star positions across dates. The Hyades star cluster rose alongside Venus around July 22, 1889, while the moon was not a thin crescent in mid-June.
The players
Elijah Jeong-hyun Kim
CEO of a Seoul telescope maker and doctoral candidate at Kyung Hee University, who led the study disputing the painting's dating.
Vincent van Gogh
Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who created The Starry Night while staying at an asylum in Saint-Remy de Provence.
The details
Van Gogh painted The Starry Night in a studio at the Saint-Remy de Provence asylum, where he had voluntarily checked in, working from sketches and memory. Kim, CEO of a Seoul telescope maker and a doctoral candidate at Kyung Hee University, traveled to France in 2019 to observe the sky in mid-June and around July 22.
Timeline
June 1889: art historians' long-accepted dating of The Starry Night.
July 22, 1889: predawn sky matched to the painting by the researchers.
2019: Kim traveled to France to observe the night sky.
Roadmap
Astronomical analysis of celestial depictions in paintings has been used to test artistic dates and details against verifiable sky conditions. This study applies that method to a single painting, revising a date that art historians had accepted for decades.
The method of matching artwork skies to dated astronomical conditions could help historians and museums verify the details of other celestial paintings. The approach relies on publicly available astronomical records and does not require access to the artwork itself.
The takeaway
Astronomical records can offer a checkable record of when a scene was observed, even for works painted long ago. Readers interested in how art and science intersect can use that approach to test claims about other historical images.
Further reading
Explore more on Space to see how astronomy is used to date and interpret historical observations.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Young Post Club.
