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Panchang · Gochar · Guru (Jupiter)

Guru gochar in 1998

Guru changes sign 3 times in 1998: Kumbha on 8 Jan, Meena on 25 May, Kumbha on 10 Sep (moving back, retrograde). Retrograde from 18 Jul.

Times in Leicester (Europe/London, GMT/BST).

Guru’s signs through 1998

  1. Makara26 Dec, 2:00 am 1996 → 8 Jan, 10:02 am 1998· about 12 months
  2. Kumbha8 Jan, 10:02 am 1998 → 25 May, 11:30 pm 1998· about 5 months
  3. Meena25 May, 11:30 pm 1998 → 10 Sep, 6:59 am 1998· about 4 months
  4. Kumbha(entered moving backward)10 Sep, 6:59 am 1998 → 12 Jan, 9:39 pm 1999· about 4 months

Date by date

Times in Leicester (Europe/London, GMT/BST).

January 1998

  • 8 Jan10:02 am

    Guru enters Kumbha

February 1998

  • 9 Feb1:43 am

    Guru becomes combust (asta) until 9 Mar†

March 1998

  • 9 Mar6:48 pm

    Guru rises again (asta ends)†

May 1998

  • 25 May11:30 pm

    Guru enters Meena

July 1998

  • 18 Jul2:31 am

    Guru turns retrograde at 4°14′ Meena

September 1998

  • 10 Sep6:59 am

    Guru enters Kumbha (moving backward)

November 1998

  • 13 Nov1:18 pm

    Guru turns direct at 24°19′ Kumbha

† Practice varies. Guru is counted asta within 11° of the Sun (Surya Siddhanta); some almanacs use another limit or a visibility rule.

See also: Guru (glossary) · Gochar 1998: all grahas · Transits over your chart

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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