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Panchang · Gochar

Gochar 2028: when each graha changes sign

In 2028, Shani moves into Mesha on 23 Feb; Guru moves into Simha on 28 Feb; Rahu moves into Dhanu on 24 Jun; Guru moves into Kanya on 24 Jul; Guru moves into Tula on 26 Dec. Below is every sign change, station and asta period of the nine grahas.

Times in Dubai (Asia/Dubai, GST).

The grahas on 1 January 2028

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

Gochar calendar for 2028

Times in Dubai (Asia/Dubai, GST). 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 2028

  • 2 Jan7:17 pm

    Budha enters Makara

  • 4 Jan4:45 pm

    Mangala becomes combust (asta) until 5 Jun†

  • 5 Jan9:34 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 8 Jan5:37 pm

    Shukra enters Kumbha

  • 12 Jan12:36 pm

    Guru turns retrograde at 3°16′ Kanya

  • 15 Jan1:42 am

    Surya enters Makara

  • 24 Jan3:02 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 25°27′ Makara

  • 27 Jan12:12 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 8 Feb†

February 2028

  • 2 Feb4:44 pm

    Shukra enters Meena

  • 3 Feb1:59 pm

    Mangala enters Kumbha

  • 8 Feb4:14 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 13 Feb2:41 pm

    Surya enters Kumbha

  • 14 Feb4:38 pm

    Budha turns direct at 9°44′ Makara

  • 23 Feb3:47 pm

    Shani enters Mesha

  • 28 Feb6:34 pm

    Shukra enters Mesha

  • 28 Feb7:25 pm

    Guru enters Simha (moving backward)

March 2028

  • 9 Mar8:27 am

    Budha enters Kumbha

  • 12 Mar2:52 pm

    Mangala enters Meena

  • 14 Mar11:33 am

    Surya enters Meena

  • 28 Mar10:08 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 25 Apr†

  • 28 Mar12:14 pm

    Budha enters Meena

  • 28 Mar4:39 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishabha

April 2028

  • 3 Apr2:45 am

    Shani becomes combust (asta) until 8 May†

  • 12 Apr10:13 pm

    Budha enters Mesha

  • 13 Apr8:02 pm

    Surya enters Mesha

  • 20 Apr11:41 am

    Mangala enters Mesha

  • 25 Apr12:32 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 27 Apr6:42 pm

    Budha enters Vrishabha

May 2028

  • 8 May10:08 am

    Shani rises again (asta ends)†

  • 11 May3:01 am

    Shukra turns retrograde at 25°26′ Vrishabha

  • 14 May12:18 am

    Guru turns direct at 23°17′ Simha

  • 14 May4:54 pm

    Surya enters Vrishabha

  • 21 May12:42 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 22°04′ Vrishabha

  • 24 May6:03 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 10 Jun†

  • 27 May11:43 am

    Shukra becomes combust (asta) until 6 Jun†

  • 30 May10:37 pm

    Mangala enters Vrishabha

June 2028

  • 5 Jun6:48 pm

    Mangala rises again (asta ends)†

  • 6 Jun4:21 pm

    Shukra rises again (asta ends)†

  • 10 Jun6:40 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 14 Jun10:06 am

    Budha turns direct at 13°31′ Vrishabha

  • 14 Jun11:31 pm

    Surya enters Mithuna

  • 23 Jun2:14 am

    Shukra turns direct at 8°56′ Vrishabha

  • 24 Jun1:49 am

    Rahu enters Dhanu (moving backward)

  • 24 Jun1:49 am

    Ketu enters Mithuna (moving backward)

July 2028

  • 5 Jul3:24 pm

    Budha enters Mithuna

  • 12 Jul1:27 pm

    Mangala enters Mithuna

  • 13 Jul4:34 am

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 8 Aug†

  • 16 Jul10:23 am

    Surya enters Karka

  • 21 Jul1:02 pm

    Budha enters Karka

  • 24 Jul12:51 pm

    Guru enters Kanya

August 2028

  • 1 Aug10:48 am

    Shukra enters Mithuna

  • 5 Aug6:04 am

    Budha enters Simha

  • 8 Aug2:37 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 16 Aug6:45 pm

    Surya enters Simha

  • 23 Aug1:46 am

    Shani turns retrograde at 17°04′ Mesha

  • 23 Aug11:45 am

    Budha enters Kanya

  • 26 Aug6:28 pm

    Mangala enters Karka

  • 31 Aug7:52 pm

    Shukra enters Karka

September 2028

  • 16 Sep7:04 am

    Guru becomes combust (asta) until 14 Oct†

  • 16 Sep6:38 pm

    Surya enters Kanya

  • 19 Sep8:33 pm

    Budha turns retrograde at 24°20′ Kanya

  • 26 Sep3:36 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 9 Oct†

  • 27 Sep3:33 pm

    Shukra enters Simha

October 2028

  • 9 Oct12:28 am

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 11 Oct2:27 pm

    Budha turns direct at 9°14′ Kanya

  • 14 Oct8:31 am

    Mangala enters Simha

  • 14 Oct11:15 pm

    Guru rises again (asta ends)†

  • 17 Oct6:33 am

    Surya enters Tula

  • 22 Oct11:51 pm

    Shukra enters Kanya

  • 28 Oct2:23 pm

    Budha becomes combust (asta) until 15 Dec†

  • 30 Oct6:52 am

    Budha enters Tula

November 2028

  • 16 Nov6:20 am

    Surya enters Vrishchika

  • 16 Nov1:25 pm

    Shukra enters Tula

  • 17 Nov5:07 pm

    Budha enters Vrishchika

December 2028

  • 6 Dec8:25 pm

    Budha enters Dhanu

  • 8 Dec8:25 pm

    Mangala enters Kanya

  • 10 Dec5:17 pm

    Shukra enters Vrishchika

  • 15 Dec8:58 pm

    Surya enters Dhanu

  • 15 Dec10:34 pm

    Budha rises again (asta ends)†

  • 26 Dec10:33 am

    Guru enters Tula

  • 26 Dec8:34 pm

    Budha enters Makara

† 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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