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Panchang · Gochar

Gochar 2009: when each graha changes sign

In 2009, Guru moves into Kumbha on 1 May; Guru moves into Makara on 30 Jul; Shani moves into Kanya on 9 Sep; Rahu moves into Dhanu on 17 Nov; Guru moves into Kumbha on 19 Dec. Below is every sign change, station and asta period of the nine grahas.

The grahas on 1 January 2009

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

Gochar calendar for 2009

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 2009

  • 10 Jan9:49 am

    Guru becomes combust (asta) until 7 Feb†

  • 11 Jan10:13 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 13°47′ Makara

  • 14 Jan6:15 am

    Surya enters Makara

  • 15 Jan1:31 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 26 Jan†

  • 26 Jan10:10 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 26 Jan9:02 pm

    Budha enters Dhanu (moving backward)

  • 27 Jan11:49 am

    Shukra enters Meena

  • 28 Jan2:11 am

    Mangala enters Makara

February 2009

  • 1 Feb12:40 pm

    Budha turns direct at 27°46′ Dhanu

  • 7 Feb2:01 pm

    Guru rises again (asta ends)†

  • 7 Feb9:44 pm

    Budha enters Makara

  • 9 Feb4:28 am

    Mangala rises again (asta ends)†

  • 12 Feb7:12 pm

    Surya enters Kumbha

March 2009

  • 5 Mar3:33 am

    Budha enters Kumbha

  • 6 Mar10:45 pm

    Shukra turns retrograde at 21°29′ Meena

  • 7 Mar4:17 pm

    Mangala enters Kumbha

  • 14 Mar4:04 pm

    Surya enters Meena

  • 15 Mar2:54 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 13 Apr†

  • 22 Mar9:31 pm

    Budha enters Meena

  • 23 Mar1:14 am

    Shukra becomes combust (asta) until 2 Apr†

April 2009

  • 2 Apr12:59 am

    Shukra rises again (asta ends)†

  • 6 Apr9:17 pm

    Budha enters Mesha

  • 13 Apr6:50 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 14 Apr12:35 am

    Surya enters Mesha

  • 15 Apr1:17 am

    Mangala enters Meena

  • 18 Apr12:55 am

    Shukra turns direct at 5°13′ Meena

  • 24 Apr5:36 am

    Budha enters Vrishabha

May 2009

  • 1 May5:11 pm

    Guru enters Kumbha

  • 7 May10:29 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 7°46′ Vrishabha

  • 10 May4:20 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 26 May†

  • 14 May9:28 pm

    Surya enters Vrishabha

  • 17 May8:08 am

    Shani turns direct at 20°56′ Simha

  • 24 May2:46 am

    Mangala enters Mesha

  • 25 May3:33 pm

    Budha enters Mesha (moving backward)

  • 26 May9:55 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 31 May4:50 am

    Shukra enters Mesha

  • 31 May6:52 am

    Budha turns direct at 28°53′ Mesha

June 2009

  • 5 Jun6:16 pm

    Budha enters Vrishabha

  • 15 Jun4:04 am

    Surya enters Mithuna

  • 15 Jun1:02 pm

    Guru turns retrograde at 3°02′ Kumbha

  • 30 Jun12:27 am

    Shukra enters Vrishabha

  • 30 Jun10:33 pm

    Budha enters Mithuna

July 2009

  • 2 Jul1:07 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 27 Jul†

  • 3 Jul8:56 pm

    Mangala enters Vrishabha

  • 15 Jul8:19 am

    Budha enters Karka

  • 16 Jul2:55 pm

    Surya enters Karka

  • 27 Jul12:58 am

    Shukra enters Mithuna

  • 27 Jul1:30 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 30 Jul3:45 pm

    Budha enters Simha

  • 30 Jul9:29 pm

    Guru enters Makara (moving backward)

August 2009

  • 16 Aug3:08 pm

    Mangala enters Mithuna

  • 16 Aug11:16 pm

    Surya enters Simha

  • 20 Aug5:13 am

    Budha enters Kanya

  • 21 Aug8:05 pm

    Shukra enters Karka

  • 31 Aug7:04 am

    Shani becomes combust (asta) until 5 Oct†

September 2009

  • 7 Sep10:14 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 12°14′ Kanya

  • 9 Sep10:24 pm

    Shani enters Kanya

  • 14 Sep11:27 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 27 Sep†

  • 15 Sep8:29 pm

    Shukra enters Simha

  • 16 Sep11:11 pm

    Surya enters Kanya

  • 24 Sep8:27 am

    Budha enters Simha (moving backward)

  • 27 Sep7:46 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 29 Sep6:43 pm

    Budha turns direct at 27°37′ Simha

October 2009

  • 5 Oct3:35 am

    Budha enters Kanya

  • 5 Oct8:59 am

    Mangala enters Karka

  • 5 Oct12:02 pm

    Shani rises again (asta ends)†

  • 10 Oct7:47 am

    Shukra enters Kanya

  • 13 Oct10:20 am

    Guru turns direct at 23°11′ Makara

  • 15 Oct8:30 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 1 Dec†

  • 17 Oct11:08 am

    Surya enters Tula

  • 25 Oct2:10 am

    Budha enters Tula

November 2009

  • 3 Nov10:35 am

    Shukra enters Tula

  • 12 Nov10:01 am

    Budha enters Vrishchika

  • 16 Nov10:59 am

    Surya enters Vrishchika

  • 17 Nov3:49 pm

    Rahu enters Dhanu (moving backward)

  • 17 Nov3:49 pm

    Ketu enters Mithuna (moving backward)

  • 27 Nov8:48 am

    Shukra enters Vrishchika

December 2009

  • 1 Dec3:25 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 1 Dec1:01 pm

    Shukra becomes combust (asta) until 22 Feb†

  • 1 Dec9:55 pm

    Budha enters Dhanu

  • 16 Dec1:40 am

    Surya enters Dhanu

  • 19 Dec11:09 pm

    Guru enters Kumbha

  • 20 Dec6:52 pm

    Mangala turns retrograde at 25°42′ Karka

  • 21 Dec5:13 am

    Shukra enters Dhanu

  • 26 Dec8:07 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 27°48′ Dhanu

  • 30 Dec9:19 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 10 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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