The night sky over New York when The Beatles played Ed Sullivan
On Sunday 9 February 1964, The Beatles played live on The Ed Sullivan Show at 8pm. They performed in CBS Studio 50 on Broadway, the theatre that now carries Ed Sullivan's name.
The band had landed in New York two days before. That night, about 73 million Americans watched them on CBS. It was the start of what people soon called the British Invasion.
The sky above New York, New York on February 9, 1964
The sky was fully dark. There was a waning crescent Moon, 12% lit, but it was below the horizon. Venus and Jupiter were above the horizon and could be seen without a telescope.
- Local time
- 8:00 PM
- Time in UTC
- February 10, 1964 at 1:00 AM UTC
- Sun
- Night
- Sun position
- 30° below the horizon
- Moon phase
- waning crescent Moon
- Moon lit
- 12%
- Moon position
- 66° below the horizon
| Planet | Visible | Direction | Altitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | No | west | -50° |
| Venus | Yes | west | 6° |
| Mars | No | west | -29° |
| Jupiter | Yes | west | 23° |
| Saturn | No | west | -26° |
| Uranus | With a telescope | east | 13° |
| Neptune | No | north-east | -51° |
| Star | Constellation | Direction | Altitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sirius | Canis Major | south-east | 29° |
| Capella | Auriga | north | 85° |
| Rigel | Orion | south | 41° |
| Procyon | Canis Minor | south-east | 43° |
| Betelgeuse | Orion | south | 56° |
| Aldebaran | Taurus | south-west | 64° |
| Pollux | Gemini | east | 58° |
| Regulus | Leo | east | 22° |
| Adhara | Canis Major | south | 17° |
| Castor | Gemini | east | 62° |
36 constellations are above the horizon. Highest in the sky: Auriga, Perseus, Taurus, Gemini, Camelopardalis, Lynx, Orion, Triangulum, Cassiopeia, Aries, Canis Minor, and Cancer.
What happened that night
Ed Sullivan introduced the band at the top of the show. They opened with 'All My Loving' and came back later to play 'I Want to Hold Your Hand'.
The studio audience was small, and most of it was screaming. Across the country, families gathered around one television set to watch.
Why people remember it
For many Americans, this was the first time they saw The Beatles. Musicians of a whole generation say this broadcast made them want to pick up a guitar.
A star map of this night makes a gift for a Beatles fan, or for a couple who had their first dance to one of their songs.
Questions about this night
It shows 8:00pm Eastern Standard Time on 9 February 1964, in Midtown Manhattan. That is when The Ed Sullivan Show went on the air.
They played in CBS Studio 50 at 1697 Broadway, New York. The building is now the Ed Sullivan Theater.
About 73 million people watched the show, according to the Nielsen ratings of the time.