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Panchang · Gochar

Gochar 1991: when each graha changes sign

In 1991, Rahu moves into Dhanu on 13 Apr; Guru moves into Simha on 14 Aug. Below is every sign change, station and asta period of the nine grahas.

The grahas on 1 January 1991

Sidereal (Lahiri) sign, and from when to when. Open a graha for its whole year.

Gochar calendar for 1991

Times in IST. Each is the same instant everywhere on Earth. The Moon changes sign every two and a half days, so its list is on its own page.

Sign changeRetrograde / directAsta / rising

January 1991

  • 1 Jan6:23 pm

    Mangala turns direct at 4°02′ Vrishabha

  • 1 Jan9:39 pm

    Shani becomes combust (asta) until 4 Feb†

  • 3 Jan11:00 am

    Budha enters Vrishchika (moving backward)

  • 3 Jan11:21 pm

    Budha turns direct at 29°59′ Vrishchika

  • 4 Jan11:52 am

    Budha enters Dhanu

  • 14 Jan3:29 pm

    Surya enters Makara

  • 24 Jan9:36 am

    Shukra enters Kumbha

February 1991

  • 1 Feb11:14 pm

    Budha enters Makara

  • 4 Feb6:03 am

    Shani rises again (asta ends)†

  • 10 Feb11:16 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 17 Mar†

  • 13 Feb4:29 am

    Surya enters Kumbha

  • 17 Feb12:42 pm

    Shukra enters Meena

  • 20 Feb6:29 pm

    Budha enters Kumbha

March 1991

  • 8 Mar10:58 pm

    Budha enters Meena

  • 13 Mar11:18 pm

    Shukra enters Mesha

  • 15 Mar1:21 am

    Surya enters Meena

  • 17 Mar2:47 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 22 Mar3:57 am

    Mangala enters Mithuna

  • 26 Mar1:32 pm

    Budha enters Mesha

  • 30 Mar7:02 pm

    Guru turns direct at 9°49′ Karka

April 1991

  • 4 Apr11:38 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 5°17′ Mesha

  • 7 Apr6:43 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 22 Apr†

  • 7 Apr10:18 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishabha

  • 13 Apr4:22 am

    Rahu enters Dhanu (moving backward)

  • 13 Apr4:22 am

    Ketu enters Mithuna (moving backward)

  • 14 Apr9:52 am

    Surya enters Mesha

  • 15 Apr11:52 pm

    Budha enters Meena (moving backward)

  • 22 Apr9:50 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 28 Apr3:19 pm

    Budha turns direct at 24°15′ Meena

May 1991

  • 3 May5:38 pm

    Shukra enters Mithuna

  • 11 May1:22 am

    Budha enters Mesha

  • 15 May6:43 am

    Surya enters Vrishabha

  • 15 May10:53 pm

    Mangala enters Karka

  • 17 May9:01 am

    Shani turns retrograde at 13°07′ Makara

  • 31 May4:00 am

    Shukra enters Karka

June 1991

  • 1 Jun11:50 pm

    Budha enters Vrishabha

  • 5 Jun6:45 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 29 Jun†

  • 15 Jun1:17 pm

    Surya enters Mithuna

  • 16 Jun2:38 pm

    Budha enters Mithuna

  • 29 Jun5:28 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

July 1991

  • 1 Jul12:47 am

    Budha enters Karka

  • 2 Jul11:12 am

    Shukra enters Simha

  • 5 Jul12:09 pm

    Mangala enters Simha

  • 17 Jul12:07 am

    Surya enters Karka

  • 20 Jul3:31 pm

    Budha enters Simha

August 1991

  • 1 Aug4:03 pm

    Shukra turns retrograde at 13°35′ Simha

  • 3 Aug7:42 am

    Guru becomes combust (asta) until 1 Sep†

  • 8 Aug5:26 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 12°10′ Simha

  • 14 Aug2:40 pm

    Guru enters Simha

  • 15 Aug6:02 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 29 Aug†

  • 17 Aug8:30 am

    Surya enters Simha

  • 17 Aug11:13 pm

    Shukra becomes combust (asta) until 28 Aug†

  • 22 Aug5:09 pm

    Mangala enters Kanya

  • 28 Aug4:01 am

    Shukra rises again (asta ends)†

  • 28 Aug3:00 pm

    Budha enters Karka (moving backward)

  • 29 Aug11:39 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 31 Aug8:05 pm

    Budha turns direct at 29°19′ Karka

September 1991

  • 1 Sep7:44 pm

    Shukra enters Karka (moving backward)

  • 1 Sep9:41 pm

    Guru rises again (asta ends)†

  • 3 Sep10:58 pm

    Budha enters Simha

  • 13 Sep2:26 pm

    Shukra turns direct at 27°16′ Karka

  • 15 Sep10:01 pm

    Mangala becomes combust (asta) until 4 Jan†

  • 17 Sep2:51 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 25 Oct†

  • 17 Sep8:25 am

    Surya enters Kanya

  • 24 Sep11:12 pm

    Budha enters Kanya

  • 25 Sep10:25 pm

    Shukra enters Simha

October 1991

  • 5 Oct10:00 am

    Shani turns direct at 6°28′ Makara

  • 7 Oct5:03 pm

    Mangala enters Tula

  • 11 Oct11:30 pm

    Budha enters Tula

  • 17 Oct8:21 pm

    Surya enters Tula

  • 25 Oct10:54 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 31 Oct7:25 am

    Budha enters Vrishchika

November 1991

  • 3 Nov9:57 am

    Shukra enters Kanya

  • 16 Nov8:08 pm

    Surya enters Vrishchika

  • 20 Nov11:08 am

    Mangala enters Vrishchika

  • 26 Nov12:19 pm

    Budha enters Dhanu

  • 28 Nov10:30 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 0°27′ Dhanu

December 1991

  • 1 Dec2:15 am

    Shukra enters Tula

  • 1 Dec5:31 am

    Budha enters Vrishchika (moving backward)

  • 3 Dec8:57 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 14 Dec†

  • 14 Dec8:09 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 16 Dec10:46 am

    Surya enters Dhanu

  • 18 Dec4:42 pm

    Budha turns direct at 14°10′ Vrishchika

  • 26 Dec3:49 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishchika

  • 31 Dec2:46 am

    Guru turns retrograde at 20°53′ Simha

† Practice varies. Texts and almanacs give slightly different asta limits, and some almanacs use the true rather than the mean node for Rahu and Ketu, which can move the nodes’ sign changes by some weeks.

See also: Transits over your chart · Gochar (glossary) · Sade Sati · Ayanamsa · Sankranti

Understand

What gochar is

Gochar means the movement of the grahas: each moves on through the zodiac, and when it crosses from one rasi into the next, that is its sign change (sankramana). This page only says which graha is where, and when. In the classical method gochar is read by counting from a person’s natal Moon sign; to see today’s sky against your own chart, open the transits tool.

Retrograde (vakri) and direct (margi)

Seen from the Earth, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn now and then appear to move backward for a while. That is retrograde motion; the instant the graha stops and turns is a station, and moving forward again is turning direct. It is an effect of the Earth and the planet moving on their orbits at different speeds. The Sun and Moon are never retrograde; Rahu and Ketu (mean) always move backward.

Combustion (asta)

A graha very close to the Sun is lost in its glare; the texts call it asta (set), and its reappearance udaya (rising). The Surya Siddhanta gives a distance limit for each graha. The limits used here: Mangala 17°, Budha 14° (12° when retrograde), Guru 11°, Shukra 10° (8° when retrograde), Shani 15°. Almanacs leave out the asta periods of Guru and Shukra when choosing times for samskaras such as weddings.

Sidereal signs

Indian almanacs count the rasis against the stars (nirayana). Western (tropical) signs run about 24° ahead, so the dates printed there are about three weeks earlier than these. The ayanamsa used here is Lahiri.

How this is calculated

Each graha’s apparent geocentric position from NASA JPL’s DE421 ephemeris, less the Lahiri ayanamsa. The instants of crossing a rasi edge, of zero speed and of reaching the asta limit are found by bisection to under a second. Small differences in ayanamsa can move a slow graha’s time (Shani above all) by a few hours against other almanacs.

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