Scientists turned art detectives date van Gogh's 'Starry Night' to actual night sky in 1889

France 24 · 22/10/2026 17:27:02

A team of South Korean researchers has put forward a new date for the night sky depicted in Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh's famed masterpiece "The Starry Night". Art historians have long assumed the stars were a product of the artist's fantasy or dated the scene to June 1889 based on the artist's known location and other factors, but astronomical details like the sliver crescent moon didn't line up.