A new study suggests the painting depicts the Hyades star cluster in July 1889, challenging the long-held assumption that it was completed in mid-June.
Astronomers may have uncovered a new clue to the creation of Vincent van Gogh’s celebrated painting The Starry Night, identifying a constellation that could change historians’ understanding of when the artwork was made.
The painting, now held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, has traditionally been associated with the night sky over Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in southern France in mid-June 1889. However, a study published on October 22 in Scientific Reports proposes that the stars depicted in the painting correspond to the Hyades cluster in the constellation Taurus, as it appeared on July 22 that year.
The researchers’ findings challenge earlier interpretations that identified the constellation as Aries and suggest that van Gogh may have worked on the painting over several sessions rather than completing it in June.
Matching the stars in the painting
The research team, led by space researcher Elijah Jeong-hyun Kim, used a software program called Procrustes to compare the relative positions of stars in the painting with their arrangements in the night sky.
Rather than relying on artistic details such as brightness, size or colour, the method focused on the geometric patterns formed by groups of stars. The analysis found a strong match between five stars depicted in The Starry Night and five stars in the V-shaped Hyades cluster.
The researchers compared the result with several alternative constellations, including Aries, which previous studies had suggested was represented in the painting. The Hyades produced the strongest statistical match.
To test the reliability of their method, the team also analysed Starry Night over the Rhône, another van Gogh painting featuring an identifiable star pattern. Their approach successfully matched the stars depicted in that work with the Big Dipper, providing additional support for their technique.
What van Gogh’s letters reveal
The researchers also examined van Gogh’s correspondence from the period to establish when he might have observed and painted the night sky.
In a letter dated June 18, 1889, the artist mentioned working on a new study of the starry sky. However, the researchers argue that this reference does not necessarily mean the painting was completed at that time.
They suggest that van Gogh could have begun the work in June and returned to it in July, when the Hyades arrangement would have matched the scene more closely.
The lunar phase provides another piece of evidence. In mid-June 1889, the moon was in its waning gibbous phase, appearing more than half illuminated. The crescent moon depicted in The Starry Night, by contrast, is more consistent with the late-July sky.
Kim also travelled to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in 2019 to study the view from the location where van Gogh painted the work. His observations, he says, further supported the identification of the Hyades.
Debate over the painting’s origins continues
Not all astronomers are convinced by the new interpretation.
James Beattie, a NASA Hubble fellow, said that van Gogh’s view of the sky from his window at the Saint-Paul-de-Mausole asylum was considerably restricted. If the identification is correct, however, modern observers could look towards the same region of the sky and recognise the stars that inspired the artist.
Don Olson, a professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at Texas State University known for investigating astronomical references in art, has challenged the researchers’ conclusions. He argues that the position of Venus relative to the Hyades does not correspond to the arrangement shown in the painting.
Olson also points to van Gogh’s June 18 letter as evidence supporting the established timeline, arguing that the new interpretation would require compelling evidence to overturn the artist’s own account.
The disagreement highlights the difficulties of reconstructing the origins of a painting created more than a century ago, particularly when artistic interpretation and astronomical observation do not always align.
Kim, however, believes the new findings shift the debate. Rather than assuming The Starry Night was completed in mid-June, he argues that researchers should now examine whether the evidence rules out a late-July date.
Although the precise circumstances surrounding the painting’s creation remain contested, the study offers a new way to investigate the relationship between van Gogh’s artistic imagination and the night sky he observed in southern France.
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