The night sky over Rome when The Three Tenors first sang
On July 7, 1990, José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti sang together for the first time, in the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. Zubin Mehta conducted.
The concert took place on the eve of the World Cup final in Rome. It was also a celebration of Carreras's return to singing after he recovered from leukemia.
The sky above Rome, Italy on July 7, 1990
The sky was almost fully dark, with a trace of twilight left. There was a full Moon in the sky, 100% lit. It stood 13° above the horizon in the southeast, in the constellation Sagittarius. Saturn was above the horizon and could be seen without a telescope.
The sky is almost fully dark, but a trace of twilight still hides the faintest stars.
- Local time
- 10:25 PM
- Time in UTC
- July 7, 1990 at 8:25 PM UTC
- Sun
- Astronomical twilight
- Sun position
- 15° below the horizon
- Moon phase
- full Moon
- Moon lit
- 100%
- Moon position
- 13° above the horizon in the southeast
| Planet | Visible | Direction | Altitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | No | northwest | -10° |
| Venus | No | north | -26° |
| Mars | No | northeast | -28° |
| Jupiter | No | northwest | -12° |
| Saturn | Yes | southeast | 12° |
| Uranus | With a telescope | southeast | 18° |
| Neptune | With a telescope | southeast | 16° |
| Star | Constellation | Direction | Altitude |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arcturus | Boötes | southwest | 56° |
| Vega | Lyra | east | 63° |
| Altair | Aquila | east | 33° |
| Spica | Virgo | southwest | 24° |
| Antares | Scorpius | south | 22° |
| Deneb | Cygnus | northeast | 43° |
| Alioth | Ursa Major | northwest | 55° |
| Dubhe | Ursa Major | northwest | 41° |
| Alkaid | Ursa Major | northwest | 63° |
| Polaris | Ursa Minor | north | 41° |
36 constellations are above the horizon. Highest in the sky: Hercules, Corona Borealis, Draco, Boötes, Lyra, Serpens, Ursa Minor, Canes Venatici, Coma Berenices, Vulpecula, Cygnus, and Ophiuchus.
What happened that night
The three singers took turns with famous arias and joined for a medley at the end. Pavarotti sang "Nessun dorma", and all three sang it again together as an encore.
The open-air stage stood among the walls of public baths built in the early 200s AD.
Why people remember it
The recording of the concert became one of the best-selling classical albums of all time. It brought opera to many people who had never heard it before.
A star map of this night makes a gift for an opera lover, a singer, or a couple who fell in love in Rome.
Questions about this night
It shows 10:25 pm Central European Summer Time on July 7, 1990, the time RAI 1 listed for its live broadcast of the concert. The concert began after that evening's Italy–England match, and we found no record of its exact start.
José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti.
In the south of central Rome, near the Circus Maximus. The ruins are used as an open-air stage for opera in summer.