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Panchang · Gochar

Gochar 2012: when each graha changes sign

In 2012, Shani moves into Kanya on 15 May; Guru moves into Vrishabha on 16 May; Shani moves into Tula on 3 Aug; Rahu moves into Tula on 23 Dec. Below is every sign change, station and asta period of the nine grahas.

Times in Calgary (America/Edmonton, MST/MDT).

The grahas on 1 January 2012

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

Gochar calendar for 2012

Times in Calgary (America/Edmonton, MST/MDT). 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 2012

  • 3 Jan6:33 pm

    Budha enters Dhanu

  • 9 Jan12:58 am

    Shukra enters Kumbha

  • 14 Jan12:15 pm

    Surya enters Makara

  • 15 Jan5:40 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 24 Feb†

  • 23 Jan5:49 pm

    Mangala turns retrograde at 29°04′ Simha

  • 23 Jan6:17 pm

    Budha enters Makara

February 2012

  • 2 Feb9:48 pm

    Shukra enters Meena

  • 7 Feb6:31 am

    Shani turns retrograde at 5°29′ Tula

  • 10 Feb11:33 am

    Budha enters Kumbha

  • 13 Feb1:15 am

    Surya enters Kumbha

  • 24 Feb12:13 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 27 Feb3:26 am

    Budha enters Meena

  • 28 Feb6:41 pm

    Shukra enters Mesha

March 2012

  • 12 Mar1:48 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 12°48′ Meena

  • 13 Mar11:08 pm

    Surya enters Meena

  • 14 Mar9:16 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 28 Mar†

  • 28 Mar2:38 am

    Shukra enters Vrishabha

  • 28 Mar4:09 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

April 2012

  • 2 Apr5:29 am

    Budha enters Kumbha (moving backward)

  • 4 Apr4:11 am

    Budha turns direct at 29°49′ Kumbha

  • 6 Apr3:40 am

    Budha enters Meena

  • 13 Apr7:37 am

    Surya enters Mesha

  • 13 Apr9:57 pm

    Mangala turns direct at 9°40′ Simha

  • 28 Apr6:30 am

    Guru becomes combust (asta) until 28 May†

May 2012

  • 5 May9:29 am

    Budha enters Mesha

  • 14 May4:28 am

    Surya enters Vrishabha

  • 14 May6:39 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 8 Jun†

  • 15 May8:31 am

    Shukra turns retrograde at 29°58′ Vrishabha

  • 15 May10:20 pm

    Shani enters Kanya (moving backward)

  • 16 May9:15 pm

    Guru enters Vrishabha

  • 21 May10:16 am

    Budha enters Vrishabha

  • 28 May10:56 am

    Guru rises again (asta ends)†

  • 31 May4:50 pm

    Shukra becomes combust (asta) until 10 Jun†

June 2012

  • 4 Jun6:54 am

    Budha enters Mithuna

  • 8 Jun7:29 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 10 Jun9:37 pm

    Shukra rises again (asta ends)†

  • 14 Jun11:02 am

    Surya enters Mithuna

  • 21 Jun6:58 am

    Budha enters Karka

  • 21 Jun12:11 pm

    Mangala enters Kanya

  • 25 Jun2:33 am

    Shani turns direct at 28°44′ Kanya

  • 27 Jun9:08 am

    Shukra turns direct at 13°28′ Vrishabha

July 2012

  • 14 Jul8:15 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 18°31′ Karka

  • 15 Jul9:53 pm

    Surya enters Karka

  • 21 Jul2:42 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 5 Aug†

  • 31 Jul8:04 am

    Shukra enters Mithuna

August 2012

  • 3 Aug5:55 pm

    Shani enters Tula

  • 5 Aug1:05 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 7 Aug11:40 pm

    Budha turns direct at 7°24′ Karka

  • 13 Aug10:01 pm

    Mangala enters Tula

  • 16 Aug6:16 am

    Surya enters Simha

  • 26 Aug10:52 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 28 Sep†

  • 28 Aug5:35 pm

    Budha enters Simha

  • 31 Aug6:32 pm

    Shukra enters Karka

September 2012

  • 13 Sep9:55 am

    Budha enters Kanya

  • 16 Sep6:12 am

    Surya enters Kanya

  • 27 Sep9:02 pm

    Shukra enters Simha

  • 28 Sep8:58 am

    Mangala enters Vrishchika

  • 28 Sep11:14 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

October 2012

  • 1 Oct6:02 am

    Budha enters Tula

  • 4 Oct7:01 am

    Guru turns retrograde at 22°21′ Vrishabha

  • 7 Oct9:47 pm

    Shani becomes combust (asta) until 11 Nov†

  • 16 Oct6:09 pm

    Surya enters Tula

  • 23 Oct3:10 am

    Budha enters Vrishchika

  • 23 Oct8:14 am

    Shukra enters Kanya

November 2012

  • 6 Nov4:03 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 10°16′ Vrishchika

  • 8 Nov8:55 pm

    Mangala enters Dhanu

  • 11 Nov2:06 am

    Shani rises again (asta ends)†

  • 11 Nov8:46 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 23 Nov†

  • 15 Nov4:55 pm

    Surya enters Vrishchika

  • 16 Nov10:14 pm

    Shukra enters Tula

  • 18 Nov2:51 pm

    Budha enters Tula (moving backward)

  • 23 Nov12:34 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 26 Nov3:47 pm

    Budha turns direct at 24°08′ Tula

December 2012

  • 5 Dec8:30 pm

    Budha enters Vrishchika

  • 11 Dec2:52 am

    Shukra enters Vrishchika

  • 15 Dec7:33 am

    Surya enters Dhanu

  • 18 Dec2:33 am

    Mangala enters Makara

  • 23 Dec9:14 am

    Rahu enters Tula (moving backward)

  • 23 Dec9:14 am

    Ketu enters Mesha (moving backward)

  • 23 Dec10:26 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 6 Feb†

  • 27 Dec9:28 am

    Budha enters Dhanu

† 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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