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Panchang · Gochar

Gochar 2004: when each graha changes sign

In 2004, Guru moves into Kanya on 27 Aug; Shani moves into Karka on 6 Sep. Below is every sign change, station and asta period of the nine grahas.

The grahas on 1 January 2004

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

Gochar calendar for 2004

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 2004

  • 1 Jan5:04 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 4 Jan5:10 am

    Guru turns retrograde at 24°59′ Simha

  • 6 Jan7:14 pm

    Budha turns direct at 2°22′ Dhanu

  • 9 Jan10:54 pm

    Shukra enters Kumbha

  • 14 Jan11:41 pm

    Surya enters Makara

  • 25 Jan12:34 am

    Mangala enters Mesha

February 2004

  • 3 Feb6:41 am

    Budha enters Makara

  • 3 Feb6:40 pm

    Shukra enters Meena

  • 13 Feb12:39 pm

    Surya enters Kumbha

  • 14 Feb7:24 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 19 Mar†

  • 22 Feb6:44 am

    Budha enters Kumbha

  • 29 Feb1:18 pm

    Shukra enters Mesha

March 2004

  • 7 Mar10:50 pm

    Shani turns direct at 12°22′ Mithuna

  • 9 Mar12:44 pm

    Budha enters Meena

  • 12 Mar1:07 am

    Mangala enters Vrishabha

  • 14 Mar9:31 am

    Surya enters Meena

  • 19 Mar9:01 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 26 Mar7:12 am

    Budha enters Mesha

  • 28 Mar1:48 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishabha

April 2004

  • 7 Apr1:56 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 8°01′ Mesha

  • 9 Apr9:22 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 24 Apr†

  • 13 Apr6:01 pm

    Surya enters Mesha

  • 22 Apr6:22 am

    Budha enters Meena (moving backward)

  • 24 Apr4:21 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 28 Apr12:10 am

    Mangala enters Mithuna

  • 30 Apr6:35 pm

    Budha turns direct at 27°12′ Meena

May 2004

  • 5 May8:54 am

    Guru turns direct at 15°00′ Simha

  • 7 May1:45 am

    Shukra enters Mithuna

  • 9 May7:20 am

    Budha enters Mesha

  • 14 May2:54 pm

    Surya enters Vrishabha

  • 18 May3:56 am

    Shukra turns retrograde at 2°13′ Mithuna

  • 28 May5:32 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishabha (moving backward)

June 2004

  • 2 Jun10:25 am

    Budha enters Vrishabha

  • 3 Jun11:49 am

    Shukra becomes combust (asta) until 13 Jun†

  • 6 Jun11:50 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 1 Jul†

  • 13 Jun4:49 pm

    Shukra rises again (asta ends)†

  • 14 Jun10:35 am

    Mangala enters Karka

  • 14 Jun9:31 pm

    Surya enters Mithuna

  • 17 Jun6:49 am

    Budha enters Mithuna

  • 20 Jun5:32 pm

    Shani becomes combust (asta) until 27 Jul†

  • 30 Jun4:46 am

    Shukra turns direct at 15°43′ Vrishabha

July 2004

  • 1 Jul11:27 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 1 Jul1:43 pm

    Budha enters Karka

  • 16 Jul8:23 am

    Surya enters Karka

  • 20 Jul11:19 am

    Budha enters Simha

  • 25 Jul10:01 pm

    Mangala becomes combust (asta) until 5 Nov†

  • 27 Jul2:12 am

    Shani rises again (asta ends)†

  • 31 Jul7:40 am

    Shukra enters Mithuna

August 2004

  • 1 Aug12:55 am

    Mangala enters Simha

  • 10 Aug6:02 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 14°52′ Simha

  • 16 Aug4:45 pm

    Surya enters Simha

  • 17 Aug7:46 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 31 Aug†

  • 27 Aug11:27 pm

    Guru enters Kanya

  • 31 Aug10:13 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

September 2004

  • 1 Sep9:56 am

    Shukra enters Karka

  • 2 Sep6:39 pm

    Budha turns direct at 1°49′ Simha

  • 6 Sep4:12 am

    Shani enters Karka

  • 7 Sep5:35 pm

    Guru becomes combust (asta) until 6 Oct†

  • 16 Sep4:38 pm

    Surya enters Kanya

  • 17 Sep4:10 am

    Mangala enters Kanya

  • 18 Sep9:56 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 28 Oct†

  • 25 Sep12:04 pm

    Budha enters Kanya

  • 28 Sep4:11 pm

    Shukra enters Simha

October 2004

  • 6 Oct1:43 pm

    Guru rises again (asta ends)†

  • 12 Oct11:41 am

    Budha enters Tula

  • 17 Oct4:32 am

    Surya enters Tula

  • 24 Oct4:55 am

    Shukra enters Kanya

  • 28 Oct10:22 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 31 Oct3:53 pm

    Budha enters Vrishchika

November 2004

  • 2 Nov6:23 am

    Mangala enters Tula

  • 5 Nov3:13 am

    Mangala rises again (asta ends)†

  • 8 Nov11:55 am

    Shani turns retrograde at 3°25′ Karka

  • 16 Nov4:17 am

    Surya enters Vrishchika

  • 17 Nov8:39 pm

    Shukra enters Tula

  • 24 Nov8:31 am

    Budha enters Dhanu

  • 30 Nov5:46 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 2°49′ Dhanu

December 2004

  • 5 Dec2:14 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 16 Dec†

  • 6 Dec8:22 am

    Budha enters Vrishchika (moving backward)

  • 12 Dec1:41 am

    Shukra enters Vrishchika

  • 15 Dec6:54 pm

    Surya enters Dhanu

  • 16 Dec1:16 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 17 Dec12:05 am

    Mangala enters Vrishchika

  • 20 Dec11:59 am

    Budha turns direct at 16°32′ Vrishchika

† 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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