Every word on your chart, explained.

The first, fourth, seventh and tenth houses are the angular houses, in Sanskrit the kendras, from which Kendraya takes its name. Tradition treats planets in them as strongly placed and visible in a life.

Also: kendra

See also House

An antardasha, or bhukti, is a sub-period inside a mahadasha. Each major period is divided among all nine rulers in proportion to their years, starting with the major period’s own ruler. A sub-period lasts from a few months to about three years.

Also: bhukti, sub-period

See also Mahadasha (major period), Vimshottari dasha

Aquarius is the eleventh sign, the Water-Bearer, an air sign. Tradition reads it as independence, ideas and community. Its dates differ between the tropical (Western) and sidereal (Vedic) zodiacs; this year’s calculated ranges are on the zodiac sign dates page.

Also: aquarius dates, aquarius sun sign

Aquarius dates this year, both zodiacs

See also Sun sign, Element

Aries is the first sign, the Ram, a fire sign. Tradition reads it as initiative, courage and the will to begin. Its dates differ between the tropical (Western) and sidereal (Vedic) zodiacs; this year’s calculated ranges are on the zodiac sign dates page.

Also: aries dates, aries sun sign

Aries dates this year, both zodiacs

See also Sun sign, Element

The ascendant, or rising sign, is the zodiac sign that was rising over the eastern horizon at your birthplace at the moment you were born. It changes roughly every two hours, which is why a birth time and place are needed. It sets the first house and, in whole-sign houses, every house after it. In Vedic astrology it is called the lagna.

Also: rising sign, lagna, rising sign calculator, ascendant calculator

Marked ASC on the left of your wheel.

See also House, Whole-sign houses, Big three

An aspect is a specific angle between two bodies measured along the zodiac. Kendraya uses the five major aspects of modern astrology: conjunction 0°, sextile 60°, square 90°, trine 120° and opposition 180°. These are distinct from Vedic drishti, which counts by sign.

See also Conjunction, Sextile, Square, Trine, Opposition, Orb, Drishti (planetary aspect)

An astrology chart is any chart of planetary positions used for astrology. When people search for an astrology chart calculator they almost always mean a birth chart. Other kinds include transit charts (the sky on a given day) and synastry charts (two people compared).

See also Birth chart, Transit

The ayanamsa is the angle between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs at a given date. Subtract it from a tropical longitude to get the sidereal one. Several conventions exist; Lahiri, adopted by the Indian government’s calendar committee, is the most widely used and is the one Kendraya applies. In 2026 it is a little over 24 degrees.

Also: lahiri ayanamsa

Shown to the minute in the zodiac-shift dial on the home page.

See also Sidereal zodiac, Precession

The big three are your Sun sign, Moon sign and rising sign. The Sun sign is set by your date of birth, the Moon sign by date and time, and the rising sign by date, time and place. Astrologers read them together: the Sun for identity, the Moon for inner life, the rising sign for how you meet the world.

Also: sun moon rising, sun moon and rising sign

Shown as three cards at the top of your chart.

See also Sun sign, Moon sign, Ascendant (rising sign)

A birth chart is a map of the sky at the moment and place you were born: where the Sun, Moon and planets stood against the zodiac, and which sign was rising on the eastern horizon. It is also called a natal chart or, in Vedic astrology, a kundli or janam kundali. The positions are astronomy; what they are said to mean is interpretation.

Also: natal chart, astrology chart, kundli, janam kundali, horoscope chart

Calculated from your date, time and place with locally stored NASA/JPL orbital data; shown as the wheel in chapter one.

See also Ascendant (rising sign), Zodiac, House

The birth time is the local clock time recorded at birth. It is used to calculate the ascendant, houses and Moon’s degree; uncertainty in the recorded time affects those results. If it is unknown, Kendraya uses noon as a reference and withholds anything that depends on the minute.

Also: unknown birth time

See also Ascendant (rising sign), Time zone and daylight saving

The birthplace supplies the latitude and longitude for the horizon and the historical time zone for converting clock time. Selecting a town uses its reference coordinates. For a more specific location, enter the birth coordinates; the effect on the rising sign varies with latitude, longitude and time.

See also Birth time, Time zone and daylight saving

Cancer is the fourth sign, the Crab, a water sign. Tradition reads it as belonging, memory and care. Its dates differ between the tropical (Western) and sidereal (Vedic) zodiacs; this year’s calculated ranges are on the zodiac sign dates page.

Also: cancer dates, cancer sun sign

Cancer dates this year, both zodiacs

See also Sun sign, Element

Capricorn is the tenth sign, the Sea-Goat, an earth sign. Tradition reads it as patient construction and responsibility. Its dates differ between the tropical (Western) and sidereal (Vedic) zodiacs; this year’s calculated ranges are on the zodiac sign dates page.

Also: capricorn dates, capricorn sun sign

Capricorn dates this year, both zodiacs

See also Sun sign, Element

A conjunction is two bodies at the same longitude, within orb. Tradition reads it as a blending or intensifying of both themes.

See also Aspect

The dasha balance is how much of the first major period remained at birth. It is found from how far the Moon had travelled through its nakshatra: a Moon one third of the way through leaves two thirds of that planet’s period. Because of this, the first period’s theoretical start date falls before you were born.

See also Vimshottari dasha, Nakshatra

Direct motion is a planet’s normal forward movement through the zodiac, the opposite of retrograde. The moment it changes direction is called a station.

Also: station

Which planets are retrograde right now, and when each turns direct

See also Retrograde

Drishti is the Vedic system of planetary aspects, or “sight”. Every planet aspects the seventh sign from itself; Mars also aspects the fourth and eighth, Jupiter the fifth and ninth, Saturn the third and tenth. These are counted by sign, not by exact degree, and differ from the angular aspects used in modern Western astrology.

See also Aspect

The ecliptic is the apparent path of the Sun across the sky over a year, which is really the plane of Earth’s orbit. The Moon and planets stay close to it, which is why the zodiac is a band centred on it. Chart positions are measured along the ecliptic as longitude.

See also Zodiac, Longitude (ecliptic)

Each zodiac sign belongs to one of four elements. Fire: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius. Earth: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn. Air: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius. Water: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces. Tradition reads fire as initiative, earth as steadiness, air as ideas and water as feeling. The pattern repeats every fourth sign.

Also: zodiac signs elements, fire earth air water

Listed with each planet’s placement.

See also Zodiac

An ephemeris describes where celestial bodies are over time. Kendraya reads bundled NASA/JPL DE440s data locally, without a live astronomy service. The supported calculation range is 1900–2100. Precision depends on the date, time conversion and coordinate conventions; it does not establish the predictive validity of astrology.

Also: JPL, DE440s

See also Longitude (ecliptic)

An equinox is one of the two moments each year when the Sun crosses the celestial equator, around 20 March and 22 September. The March equinox defines 0° Aries in the tropical zodiac.

See also Tropical zodiac, Solstice

The full Moon is the moment the Moon stands opposite the Sun, fully lit as seen from Earth. Tradition treats it as a culmination.

See also Moon phase

Gemini is the third sign, the Twins, an air sign. Tradition reads it as curiosity, language and quick connections. Its dates differ between the tropical (Western) and sidereal (Vedic) zodiacs; this year’s calculated ranges are on the zodiac sign dates page.

Also: gemini dates, gemini sun sign

Gemini dates this year, both zodiacs

See also Sun sign, Element

Geocentric means measured from the centre of the Earth. Astrological charts are geocentric: they describe where the planets appear from here, not where they are relative to the Sun.

See also Ecliptic

Graha, literally “that which grasps”, is the Vedic word for a planet in the astrological sense. The nine grahas (navagraha) are the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu.

Also: navagraha

See also Planet (in astrology)

Horoscope originally meant the chart itself, from the Greek for “hour watcher”, and in India it still does. In everyday English it now usually means a short forecast written for a Sun sign. Kendraya calculates charts and today’s sky; it does not publish sign-by-sign forecasts.

See also Birth chart, Sun sign

The houses divide the chart into twelve areas of life, counted from the ascendant. The first house is the self, then in order: resources and speech, siblings and effort, home and mother, creativity and children, work and health, partnership, transformation and shared resources, learning and belief, vocation and public life, gains and community, and rest, loss and the inner world. A planet’s house says where its themes tend to show up.

Also: astrology houses, houses calculator, 12 houses

Numbered inside your wheel; each planet’s house is listed with its placement.

See also Whole-sign houses, Ascendant (rising sign)

Illumination is the percentage of the Moon’s disc that is lit. Kendraya calculates the Sun–Moon–Earth phase geometry using three-dimensional positions and distances, then rounds the illuminated fraction to a whole percentage.

See also Moon phase

An ingress is the moment a planet enters a new sign. The Sun’s ingresses set the zodiac sign dates for the year; in the sidereal zodiac they fall about 24 days later than in the tropical one.

Also: zodiac signs dates, sun sign dates

This year’s calculated sign dates

See also Zodiac, Sun sign

Jupiter spends about a year in each sign, twelve years for the full circle. Tradition reads it as growth, learning, generosity and meaning.

Ketu is the descending lunar node, always exactly opposite Rahu. Vedic tradition reads it as detachment, inward attention and what you already know. Western astrology calls it the south node.

Also: south node

See also Rahu (north node), Lunar nodes

Kundli (also kundali or janam kundali) is the Hindi word for a birth chart. A kundli is traditionally drawn as a square with the twelve houses around the edges rather than as a wheel, but it contains the same positions.

Also: kundali, janam kundali, janma kundali

See also Birth chart, Vedic astrology

Lagna is the Sanskrit term for the ascendant, the sign rising in the east at birth. The lagna chart is the main birth chart, as opposed to divisional charts such as the navamsa.

See also Ascendant (rising sign)

Leo is the fifth sign, the Lion, a fire sign. Tradition reads it as creative expression, warmth and the wish to be seen. Its dates differ between the tropical (Western) and sidereal (Vedic) zodiacs; this year’s calculated ranges are on the zodiac sign dates page.

Also: leo dates, leo sun sign

Leo dates this year, both zodiacs

See also Sun sign, Element

Libra is the seventh sign, the Scales, an air sign. Tradition reads it as fairness, beauty and the space between people. Its dates differ between the tropical (Western) and sidereal (Vedic) zodiacs; this year’s calculated ranges are on the zodiac sign dates page.

Also: libra dates, libra sun sign

Libra dates this year, both zodiacs

See also Sun sign, Element

In a chart, longitude is a body’s position along the ecliptic, from 0° to 360°. Divide by 30 to get the sign; the remainder is the degree within the sign. A planet at 95° is at 5° Cancer. Kendraya shows degrees and minutes for every body.

Also: degree, position

See also Ecliptic, Zodiac

The lunar nodes are the two points where the Moon’s tilted orbit crosses the ecliptic. Eclipses happen when a new or full Moon falls near them. The “mean node” is the smoothed average position; the “true node” includes the Moon’s wobble and can differ by up to about 1.7 degrees. Kendraya uses the mean node.

Also: mean node, true node

See also Rahu (north node), Ketu (south node)

A mahadasha is one of the nine major periods of the Vimshottari cycle, lasting from 6 to 20 years depending on its ruling planet. Tradition reads the planet’s themes as the background of that chapter of life.

Also: major period, mahadasha calculator

See also Vimshottari dasha, Antardasha (sub-period)

Mars takes about two years to circle the zodiac. Tradition reads it as effort, courage, desire and how you direct energy.

Mercury never sits more than about 28 degrees from the Sun. Tradition reads it as language, learning and exchange. It turns retrograde three or four times a year.

See also Retrograde

The Moon is the fastest body in the chart, crossing a sign about every two and a half days. Tradition reads it as the inner life, habits and belonging. In Vedic astrology it also fixes your nakshatra and the start of your dasha periods.

See also Moon sign, Nakshatra, Vimshottari dasha

The Moon phase is how much of the Moon’s Earth-facing side is lit, which depends on the angle between the Moon and the Sun. From new Moon it waxes through crescent, first quarter and gibbous to full at 180°, then wanes through gibbous, last quarter and crescent back to new. One cycle takes about 29.5 days.

Also: lunar phase, waxing, waning, gibbous, crescent

Drawn from the calculated illumination on the home page and in chapter four.

See also Illumination, New Moon, Full Moon

Your Moon sign is the zodiac sign the Moon occupied at your birth. The Moon moves about 13 degrees a day, so a birth time is needed to be sure of it near a sign boundary. Vedic astrology treats the Moon sign, called the rashi, as the centre of the chart and reads it for emotional needs and belonging.

Also: rashi, moon sign calculator

Chapter two reads your Moon sign and its nakshatra.

See also Nakshatra, Big three

A nakshatra is one of 27 lunar mansions that divide the sidereal zodiac into equal arcs of 13°20′, the distance the Moon travels in about a day. Each has a name, a symbol and a traditional ruling planet, and each is split into four quarters called padas. Your birth nakshatra is the one holding your Moon; it also sets the first Vimshottari period.

Also: lunar mansion, birth star, janma nakshatra, nakshatra calculator

Named in chapter two, with tonight’s nakshatra on the home page.

See also Pada, Vimshottari dasha, Moon sign

Natal chart is the Western name for a birth chart. “Natal” simply means “of birth”. A natal chart and a birth chart are the same thing.

See also Birth chart

The navamsa is a divisional chart that splits each sign into nine parts, giving a second chart read alongside the main one, traditionally for relationships and the inner strength of planets. Kendraya calculates Navamsa (D9) and Dashamsa (D10) from sidereal positions in Chart & details. These are symbolic divisions, not a second physical sky.

Also: d9, divisional chart, varga

See also Pada

The new Moon is the moment the Moon and Sun share the same longitude. The Moon’s lit side faces away from Earth, so it is invisible. Tradition treats it as a beginning.

See also Moon phase

An opposition is an angle of 180 degrees, directly across the chart. Tradition reads it as two themes pulling against, or balancing, each other. Rahu and Ketu are always in opposition.

See also Aspect, Rahu (north node)

The orb is the allowance, in degrees, within which an aspect still counts. A 3° orb means a square counts anywhere from 87° to 93°. Kendraya uses 3° for daily transits; natal astrologers often allow more.

See also Aspect

A pada is one quarter of a nakshatra, 3°20′ of the zodiac. There are 108 padas in all. Tradition uses the pada to refine a nakshatra reading and to place the Moon in the navamsa chart.

Also: quarter, charan

See also Nakshatra

Pisces is the twelfth sign, the Fishes, a water sign. Tradition reads it as imagination, sensitivity and connection. Its dates differ between the tropical (Western) and sidereal (Vedic) zodiacs; this year’s calculated ranges are on the zodiac sign dates page.

Also: pisces dates, pisces sun sign

Pisces dates this year, both zodiacs

See also Sun sign, Element

In astrology, “planet” means any of the bodies placed in a chart, including the Sun and Moon. Kendraya uses the seven classical planets, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, plus the two lunar nodes, which is the Vedic set of nine grahas. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are not part of the Vedic tradition and are not shown.

Also: graha, navagraha

See also Rahu (north node), Ketu (south node)

Precession is the slow wobble of Earth’s axis, which takes about 25,800 years to complete a circle. It moves the equinox point backwards against the stars by about one degree every 72 years, and it is the reason the tropical and sidereal zodiacs drift apart.

Also: precession of the equinoxes

See also Ayanamsa, Equinox

Rahu is the ascending lunar node: the point where the Moon’s orbit crosses the ecliptic heading north. It is a calculated point, not a body, and it moves backwards through the zodiac, taking about 18.6 years for a full circle. Vedic tradition reads it as appetite, ambition and the unfamiliar. Western astrology calls it the north node.

Also: north node, lunar node

Kendraya uses the mean node.

See also Ketu (south node), Lunar nodes

Rashi is the Sanskrit word for a zodiac sign. In everyday use in India, “my rashi” means the Moon sign, because Vedic astrology reads the chart from the Moon.

See also Moon sign, Zodiac

A planet is retrograde when it appears to move backwards through the zodiac from Earth’s point of view. It is an effect of the two orbits passing each other, not a change in the planet. Mercury is retrograde three or four times a year for about three weeks; the outer planets for months at a time. The Sun and Moon are never retrograde. Tradition reads retrograde periods as review rather than advance.

Also: mercury retrograde, retrograde meaning

Marked on any planet that is retrograde today or was at your birth.

Is Mercury in retrograde right now? Live status and dates

See also Direct motion, Retrograde shadow

The shadow is the stretch of the zodiac a retrograde planet crosses three times: forward, backward, then forward again. The pre-shadow begins when the planet first reaches the degree where it will later turn direct; the post-shadow ends when it passes the degree where it turned retrograde. Astrologers mostly quote it for Mercury and Venus. It is a convention for reading the period, not a change in the sky.

Also: pre-shadow, post-shadow, retroshade, shadow period

Mercury retrograde shadow dates, with a day-by-day chart

See also Retrograde, Direct motion

Sagittarius is the ninth sign, the Archer, a fire sign. Tradition reads it as learning, perspective and the wider view. Its dates differ between the tropical (Western) and sidereal (Vedic) zodiacs; this year’s calculated ranges are on the zodiac sign dates page.

Also: sagittarius dates, sagittarius sun sign

Sagittarius dates this year, both zodiacs

See also Sun sign, Element

Saturn spends about two and a half years in each sign, roughly 29 years for the full circle. Tradition reads it as patience, limits, responsibility and what is built slowly.

Scorpio is the eighth sign, the Scorpion, a water sign. Tradition reads it as depth, trust and transformation. Its dates differ between the tropical (Western) and sidereal (Vedic) zodiacs; this year’s calculated ranges are on the zodiac sign dates page.

Also: scorpio dates, scorpio sun sign

Scorpio dates this year, both zodiacs

See also Sun sign, Element

A sextile is an angle of 60 degrees, two signs apart. Tradition reads it as an easy, opportunity-shaped link.

See also Aspect

The sidereal zodiac starts 0° Aries at a fixed point among the stars. Because the equinox slowly drifts backwards through the stars (precession), the sidereal and tropical zodiacs now differ by about 24 degrees, and the gap grows about one degree every 72 years. Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac.

Also: vedic zodiac, sidereal astrology

The default view. Kendraya uses the Lahiri ayanamsa.

See also Ayanamsa, Precession, Tropical zodiac

A solstice is one of the two moments each year when the Sun reaches its northern or southern extreme, around 21 June and 21 December. In the tropical zodiac they mark 0° Cancer and 0° Capricorn.

See also Equinox

A square is an angle of 90 degrees, three signs apart. Tradition reads it as friction that asks for effort or adjustment.

See also Aspect

In a chart the Sun marks the sign and house of your date of birth. Tradition reads it as identity, vitality and the direction you express. Its sign is your Sun sign.

See also Sun sign

Your Sun sign is the zodiac sign the Sun occupied on your date of birth. It is the sign people mean when they ask “what’s your sign?”. The tropical and Lahiri sidereal zodiacs currently differ by about 24 degrees, so the two views can show different Sun signs for the same birth moment.

Also: star sign, zodiac sign

See also Zodiac, Sidereal zodiac, Tropical zodiac

Taurus is the second sign, the Bull, an earth sign. Tradition reads it as steadiness, patience and pleasure in what lasts. Its dates differ between the tropical (Western) and sidereal (Vedic) zodiacs; this year’s calculated ranges are on the zodiac sign dates page.

Also: taurus dates, taurus sun sign

Taurus dates this year, both zodiacs

See also Sun sign, Element

Charts are calculated in Universal Time, so your local birth time is converted using the time zone and daylight-saving rules in force at that place on that date. Kendraya uses the historical IANA records. A clock time skipped by a forward change is rejected. If the clock time occurred twice during a backward change, you choose the recorded occurrence.

Also: dst, utc, universal time

See also Birth time

A transit is the current position of a planet in the sky compared with your birth chart. When a transiting planet reaches an angle to one of your natal planets, astrologers read it as a live theme. Kendraya lists today’s transits within a three-degree orb, and the sky for the week ahead.

Also: transits today, transit chart

Chapter four.

See also Aspect, Orb

A trine is an angle of 120 degrees, four signs apart, usually within the same element. Tradition reads it as flow and support.

See also Aspect, Element

The tropical zodiac starts 0° Aries at the March equinox, the point where the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading north. It is tied to the seasons, not the stars, and it is the zodiac used by Western astrology.

Also: western zodiac

Selected with the “Western” switch inside your chart.

See also Sidereal zodiac, Ayanamsa, Equinox

Vedic astrology, or Jyotish, is the astrological tradition of India and Sri Lanka. It uses the sidereal zodiac, whole-sign houses, the seven classical planets with Rahu and Ketu, the 27 nakshatras and planetary period systems such as Vimshottari dasha. Its classical text is the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra.

Also: jyotish, indian astrology, hindu astrology, vedic astrology chart

Kendraya’s default view.

See also Sidereal zodiac, Nakshatra, Vimshottari dasha

Venus stays within about 47 degrees of the Sun. Tradition reads it as connection, affection, beauty and what you value.

Vimshottari dasha is the most widely used Vedic system of planetary periods. It divides 120 years among nine rulers in a fixed order: Ketu 7 years, Venus 20, Sun 6, Moon 10, Mars 7, Rahu 18, Jupiter 16, Saturn 19, Mercury 17. Your first period is ruled by the lord of your Moon’s nakshatra, and how far the Moon has travelled through that nakshatra sets how much of it remained at birth.

Also: dasha, dasha calculator, vimshottari dasha calculator, planetary periods

Chapter three, with real dates and the sub-period you are in.

See also Mahadasha (major period), Antardasha (sub-period), Nakshatra

Virgo is the sixth sign, the Maiden, an earth sign. Tradition reads it as attentive work, usefulness and refinement. Its dates differ between the tropical (Western) and sidereal (Vedic) zodiacs; this year’s calculated ranges are on the zodiac sign dates page.

Also: virgo dates, virgo sun sign

Virgo dates this year, both zodiacs

See also Sun sign, Element

Whole-sign houses are the oldest house system: the sign holding the ascendant is the whole first house, the next sign is the second house, and so on. Every house is exactly one sign. It is standard in Vedic astrology and increasingly common in Western practice. Other systems (Placidus, Koch, Equal) cut the houses by time or space and can put a planet in a different house.

Also: house system, placidus

Kendraya’s default house system in both views. Equal houses are also available in Chart & details.

See also House, Ascendant (rising sign)

The zodiac is the band of sky along the ecliptic, the Sun’s yearly path, divided into twelve equal signs of 30 degrees each. Planets are located by their longitude within it. Two conventions decide where the band starts: the tropical zodiac and the sidereal zodiac.

See also Tropical zodiac, Sidereal zodiac, Ecliptic