Astronomers identify the night sky that inspired van Gogh's 'Starry Night' as July 22, 1889

A team of South Korean astronomers used planetarium software to recreate every night sky in June and July 1889, matching celestial geometry in van Gogh's painting to determine July 22, 1889 as the date van Gogh painted the scene from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France.

The study argues for July 22, but art historians have traditionally dated the painting to June 1889 based on van Gogh's letters, and not all experts accept the new analysis.