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…
02Horoscopes
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…
02Horoscopes
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.
Wed 30 Sep · readings cover the UTC day
The Sun today7°21′LibraTropical: true ecliptic and equinox of date13°07′VirgoSidereal: tropical longitude minus the ayanamsa, Lahiri
Aries
Tropical
2°53′Rx11°37′Rx
Taurus
Tropical
26°46′
Gemini
Tropical
5°32′Rx
Cancer
Tropical
No planet here today
Leo
Tropical
1°24′19°30′
Virgo
Tropical
No planet here today
Libra
Tropical · the Sun’s sign
7°21′
Scorpio
Tropical
0°01′8°20′
Sagittarius
Tropical
No planet here today
Capricorn
Tropical
No planet here today
Aquarius
Tropical
3°08′Rx
Pisces
Tropical
No planet here today
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.
Two frames, one sky
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.
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.