02Horoscopes

The twelve signs, in the frame you choose

A sign is a 30° label on a real stretch of sky. Choose tropical or sidereal: every reading says which, and shows what is actually there today.

Thu 1 Oct · readings cover the UTC day

The Sun today14°06′VirgoSidereal: tropical longitude minus the ayanamsa, Lahiri8°20′LibraTropical: true ecliptic and equinox of date

Sun

14°06′Virgo8°20′Libra

Moon

16°49′Taurus11°03′Gemini73% waning

Ayanamsa · Lahiri24°14′between the zodiacs · positions at 12:00 UTC

Read a sign

What occupies each sign at 12:00 UTC, then its reading for the day.

Your horoscope

A reading of your own sky, not a twelfth of everyone’s

Your natal Sun and Moon measured in the frame you choose, today’s sky read against them, and — when you give a birth time — the sign that was rising and your houses.

Create your sky Sign in

Two frames, one sky

Why are there two Leos?

Both zodiacs cut the same band of sky, the ecliptic, into twelve 30° signs. They differ only in where they start counting. The tropical zodiac starts at the March equinox, where the Sun crosses the celestial equator; the sidereal zodiac is anchored to the stars (the Lahiri standard sets its zero so that the star Spica sits almost exactly at 180°).

Earth’s axis slowly wobbles — precession — so the equinox slides west against the stars by about 1° every 72 years. The two zodiacs coincided around 285 CE; today they differ by 24°14′, most of a sign.

So “Leo” names two stretches of sky: tropical Leo, from 120° to 150° of longitude, and sidereal Leo, 24°14′ further east. Regulus sits at 0°12′ tropical Virgo and 5°58′ sidereal Leo: one star, two labels. A sign is a label on the sky; the planets are the objects.

Watch precession in the Time Machine

Longitude increases to the right (east). Gold: tropical signs. Silver: sidereal signs (Lahiri).

Not sure which sign is yours? Sign dates are not fixed: they shift between the frames and from year to year. Measure your Sun for your birth date.

02Horoscopes

The twelve signs, in the frame you choose

A sign is a 30° label on a real stretch of sky. Choose tropical or sidereal: every reading says which, and shows what is actually there today.

Measuring today’s sky…