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Panchang · Gochar

Gochar 2022: when each graha changes sign

In 2022, Rahu moves into Mesha on 12 Apr; Guru moves into Meena on 13 Apr; Shani moves into Kumbha on 29 Apr; Shani moves into Makara on 12 Jul. Below is every sign change, station and asta period of the nine grahas.

The grahas on 1 January 2022

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

Gochar calendar for 2022

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 2022

  • 4 Jan7:27 am

    Shukra becomes combust (asta) until 14 Jan†

  • 14 Jan5:14 am

    Shukra rises again (asta ends)†

  • 14 Jan2:29 pm

    Surya enters Makara

  • 14 Jan5:11 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 16°11′ Makara

  • 16 Jan4:30 pm

    Mangala enters Dhanu

  • 17 Jan7:09 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 29 Jan†

  • 19 Jan7:22 am

    Shani becomes combust (asta) until 21 Feb†

  • 29 Jan5:07 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 29 Jan2:17 pm

    Shukra turns direct at 16°55′ Dhanu

February 2022

  • 4 Feb9:43 am

    Budha turns direct at 0°13′ Makara

  • 13 Feb3:26 am

    Surya enters Kumbha

  • 19 Feb10:08 am

    Guru becomes combust (asta) until 20 Mar†

  • 21 Feb8:16 pm

    Shani rises again (asta ends)†

  • 26 Feb3:48 pm

    Mangala enters Makara

  • 27 Feb10:19 am

    Shukra enters Makara

March 2022

  • 6 Mar11:22 am

    Budha enters Kumbha

  • 15 Mar12:16 am

    Surya enters Meena

  • 18 Mar4:18 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 16 Apr†

  • 20 Mar8:29 am

    Guru rises again (asta ends)†

  • 24 Mar10:57 am

    Budha enters Meena

  • 31 Mar8:40 am

    Shukra enters Kumbha

April 2022

  • 7 Apr3:15 pm

    Mangala enters Kumbha

  • 8 Apr11:59 am

    Budha enters Mesha

  • 12 Apr3:29 pm

    Rahu enters Mesha (moving backward)

  • 12 Apr3:29 pm

    Ketu enters Tula (moving backward)

  • 13 Apr3:49 pm

    Guru enters Meena

  • 14 Apr8:41 am

    Surya enters Mesha

  • 16 Apr11:43 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 25 Apr12:13 am

    Budha enters Vrishabha

  • 27 Apr6:16 pm

    Shukra enters Meena

  • 29 Apr7:55 am

    Shani enters Kumbha

May 2022

  • 10 May5:16 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 10°41′ Vrishabha

  • 13 May1:00 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 30 May†

  • 15 May5:29 am

    Surya enters Vrishabha

  • 17 May9:32 am

    Mangala enters Meena

  • 23 May8:26 pm

    Shukra enters Mesha

  • 30 May8:37 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

June 2022

  • 3 Jun1:31 pm

    Budha turns direct at 1°55′ Vrishabha

  • 5 Jun2:43 am

    Shani turns retrograde at 1°05′ Kumbha

  • 15 Jun12:03 pm

    Surya enters Mithuna

  • 18 Jun8:15 am

    Shukra enters Vrishabha

  • 27 Jun5:39 am

    Mangala enters Mesha

July 2022

  • 2 Jul9:44 am

    Budha enters Mithuna

  • 4 Jul5:29 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 30 Jul†

  • 12 Jul3:05 pm

    Shani enters Makara (moving backward)

  • 13 Jul10:49 am

    Shukra enters Mithuna

  • 16 Jul10:55 pm

    Surya enters Karka

  • 17 Jul12:08 am

    Budha enters Karka

  • 29 Jul1:50 am

    Guru turns retrograde at 14°33′ Meena

  • 30 Jul9:47 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

August 2022

  • 1 Aug3:43 am

    Budha enters Simha

  • 7 Aug5:19 am

    Shukra enters Karka

  • 10 Aug9:08 pm

    Mangala enters Vrishabha

  • 17 Aug7:22 am

    Surya enters Simha

  • 21 Aug2:02 am

    Budha enters Kanya

  • 31 Aug4:17 pm

    Shukra enters Simha

September 2022

  • 10 Sep9:07 am

    Budha turns retrograde at 14°45′ Kanya

  • 15 Sep2:50 am

    Shukra becomes combust (asta) until 2 Dec†

  • 17 Sep7:21 am

    Surya enters Kanya

  • 17 Sep9:20 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 30 Sep†

  • 24 Sep9:02 pm

    Shukra enters Kanya

  • 30 Sep3:11 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

October 2022

  • 2 Oct2:37 pm

    Budha turns direct at 0°02′ Kanya

  • 16 Oct6:32 am

    Mangala enters Mithuna

  • 17 Oct7:22 pm

    Surya enters Tula

  • 18 Oct7:42 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 4 Dec†

  • 18 Oct9:39 pm

    Shukra enters Tula

  • 23 Oct10:09 am

    Shani turns direct at 24°25′ Makara

  • 26 Oct1:47 pm

    Budha enters Tula

  • 30 Oct6:51 pm

    Mangala turns retrograde at 1°26′ Mithuna

November 2022

  • 11 Nov8:08 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishchika

  • 13 Nov8:55 pm

    Mangala enters Vrishabha (moving backward)

  • 13 Nov9:19 pm

    Budha enters Vrishchika

  • 16 Nov7:14 pm

    Surya enters Vrishchika

  • 24 Nov4:47 am

    Guru turns direct at 4°38′ Meena

December 2022

  • 2 Dec6:37 am

    Shukra rises again (asta ends)†

  • 3 Dec6:46 am

    Budha enters Dhanu

  • 4 Dec2:43 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 5 Dec5:56 pm

    Shukra enters Dhanu

  • 16 Dec9:57 am

    Surya enters Dhanu

  • 28 Dec4:58 am

    Budha enters Makara

  • 29 Dec3:01 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 0°11′ Makara

  • 29 Dec4:02 pm

    Shukra enters Makara

  • 31 Dec12:12 am

    Budha enters Dhanu (moving backward)

† 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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