New study traces van Gogh's famed 'Starry Night' to an actual night sky from 1889

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Scientists doubling as art detectives have traced Vincent van Gogh’s “ The Starry Night ” to a celestial scene that suggests a new date for one of the world’s most famous paintings.

Their findings indicate that rather than being a product of van Gogh’s imagination, “The Starry Night” may have been inspired by what he saw as he gazed heavenward from his French asylum 137 years ago.

A South Korean team reported Thursday that after years of forensic astronomy and research into the Dutch artist , they have matched his masterpiece to a predawn sky over France’s Saint-Remy de Provence right around July 22, 1889.