Researchers say Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" shows a real sky, according to AP, France 24 and Space.com.

A South Korean team matched the painting to the predawn sky over Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, around July 22, 1889, the outlets reported. The study appears in the journal Scientific Reports, AP and France 24 said.

That is about a month later than art historians have long believed, AP and France 24 reported. They have dated the painting to June 1889, soon after van Gogh entered an asylum there.

The team was led by Elijah Jeong-hyun Kim, the head of a telescope company in Seoul, the outlets reported. He is also a doctoral student at Kyung Hee University, they said.

In mid-June 1889, the moon did not look like the thin crescent in the painting, AP and France 24 reported. But around July 22, the moon before dawn looked like the painted one, AP said. The Hyades star cluster was rising in the east with Venus, it reported.

Kim traveled to France twice in 2019, once in mid-June and again around July 22, AP reported. He found bright stars rising before dawn in July but not in June, AP said.

"I am confident that July 22 is the better date. I will bet on this date," Kim said in an email, according to AP and France 24. He said the few days before and after could also have inspired van Gogh.

Earlier studies tried to date the sky but did not agree, Space.com reported.

Jose Luis Aragon, a physicist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, was not part of the study. He said it tackles "a real puzzle," AP reported. "Still, I would see the July date as an intriguing hypothesis rather than a settled answer," he said in an email, according to AP and France 24.

What we know: A new study matches the painting to the sky around July 22, 1889.
What we don't: Whether art historians will accept the new date.