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Panchang · Gochar

Gochar 2003: when each graha changes sign

In 2003, Shani moves into Vrishabha on 8 Jan; Shani moves into Mithuna on 7 Apr; Guru moves into Simha on 29 Jul; Rahu moves into Mesha on 5 Sep. Below is every sign change, station and asta period of the nine grahas.

Times in Vancouver (America/Vancouver, PST/PDT).

The grahas on 1 January 2003

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

Gochar calendar for 2003

Times in Vancouver (America/Vancouver, PST/PDT). 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 2003

  • 2 Jan10:18 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 4°34′ Makara

  • 5 Jan6:58 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 16 Jan†

  • 7 Jan9:04 am

    Mangala enters Vrishchika

  • 8 Jan12:21 am

    Shani enters Vrishabha (moving backward)

  • 9 Jan9:27 am

    Budha enters Dhanu (moving backward)

  • 14 Jan3:57 am

    Surya enters Makara

  • 16 Jan11:17 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 22 Jan5:08 pm

    Budha turns direct at 18°24′ Dhanu

  • 29 Jan6:32 pm

    Shukra enters Dhanu

February 2003

  • 7 Feb6:44 pm

    Budha enters Makara

  • 12 Feb4:54 pm

    Surya enters Kumbha

  • 22 Feb12:09 am

    Shani turns direct at 28°14′ Vrishabha

  • 23 Feb12:06 am

    Mangala enters Dhanu

  • 24 Feb11:52 pm

    Shukra enters Makara

March 2003

  • 1 Mar12:47 am

    Budha enters Kumbha

  • 4 Mar8:57 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 4 Apr†

  • 14 Mar1:46 pm

    Surya enters Meena

  • 18 Mar1:13 am

    Budha enters Meena

  • 22 Mar7:53 am

    Shukra enters Kumbha

April 2003

  • 2 Apr1:16 am

    Budha enters Mesha

  • 3 Apr7:21 pm

    Guru turns direct at 14°10′ Karka

  • 4 Apr1:45 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 7 Apr7:48 am

    Shani enters Mithuna

  • 11 Apr4:01 pm

    Mangala enters Makara

  • 13 Apr11:17 pm

    Surya enters Mesha

  • 16 Apr8:01 am

    Shukra enters Meena

  • 26 Apr4:58 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 26°39′ Mesha

  • 28 Apr4:52 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 14 May†

May 2003

  • 11 May3:12 am

    Shukra enters Mesha

  • 14 May8:11 pm

    Surya enters Vrishabha

  • 14 May11:57 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 20 May12:33 am

    Budha turns direct at 17°13′ Mesha

June 2003

  • 3 Jun1:18 pm

    Mangala enters Kumbha

  • 4 Jun8:13 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishabha

  • 6 Jun2:47 am

    Shani becomes combust (asta) until 12 Jul†

  • 8 Jun6:12 am

    Budha enters Vrishabha

  • 15 Jun2:49 am

    Surya enters Mithuna

  • 22 Jun11:25 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 17 Jul†

  • 26 Jun5:29 am

    Budha enters Mithuna

  • 29 Jun10:56 am

    Shukra enters Mithuna

July 2003

  • 10 Jul5:46 am

    Budha enters Karka

  • 12 Jul11:17 am

    Shani rises again (asta ends)†

  • 13 Jul1:46 am

    Shukra becomes combust (asta) until 24 Sep†

  • 16 Jul1:42 pm

    Surya enters Karka

  • 17 Jul11:24 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 23 Jul10:29 pm

    Shukra enters Karka

  • 26 Jul9:12 am

    Budha enters Simha

  • 29 Jul12:32 am

    Mangala turns retrograde at 16°14′ Kumbha

  • 29 Jul11:22 pm

    Guru enters Simha

August 2003

  • 7 Aug7:47 am

    Guru becomes combust (asta) until 5 Sep†

  • 16 Aug10:07 pm

    Surya enters Simha

  • 17 Aug6:21 am

    Shukra enters Simha

  • 20 Aug6:33 pm

    Budha enters Kanya

  • 28 Aug6:40 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 2°25′ Kanya

September 2003

  • 4 Sep5:10 am

    Budha enters Simha (moving backward)

  • 4 Sep10:07 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 17 Sep†

  • 5 Sep3:30 pm

    Rahu enters Mesha (moving backward)

  • 5 Sep3:30 pm

    Ketu enters Tula (moving backward)

  • 5 Sep7:32 pm

    Guru rises again (asta ends)†

  • 10 Sep11:11 am

    Shukra enters Kanya

  • 16 Sep10:04 pm

    Surya enters Kanya

  • 17 Sep4:34 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 20 Sep1:52 am

    Budha turns direct at 18°18′ Simha

  • 24 Sep9:15 am

    Shukra rises again (asta ends)†

  • 27 Sep12:56 am

    Mangala turns direct at 6°13′ Kumbha

October 2003

  • 3 Oct12:38 am

    Budha enters Kanya

  • 4 Oct2:20 pm

    Shukra enters Tula

  • 5 Oct8:48 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 18 Nov†

  • 17 Oct10:01 am

    Surya enters Tula

  • 20 Oct1:37 pm

    Budha enters Tula

  • 25 Oct4:12 pm

    Shani turns retrograde at 19°20′ Mithuna

  • 28 Oct4:07 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishchika

November 2003

  • 8 Nov12:26 am

    Budha enters Vrishchika

  • 16 Nov8:49 am

    Surya enters Vrishchika

  • 18 Nov8:44 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 21 Nov7:22 pm

    Shukra enters Dhanu

  • 28 Nov2:38 am

    Budha enters Dhanu

December 2003

  • 5 Dec10:45 am

    Mangala enters Meena

  • 15 Dec11:28 pm

    Surya enters Dhanu

  • 16 Dec12:12 am

    Shukra enters Makara

  • 17 Dec8:00 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 18°39′ Dhanu

  • 21 Dec3:44 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 1 Jan†

† 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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