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Panchang · Gochar · Mangala (Mars)

Mangala gochar in 1979

Mangala changes sign 8 times in 1979: Makara on 12 Jan, Kumbha on 19 Feb, Meena on 30 Mar, Mesha on 7 May ….

Mangala’s signs through 1979

  1. Dhanu4 Dec, 9:38 am 1978 → 12 Jan, 4:12 pm 1979· 39 days
  2. Makara12 Jan, 4:12 pm 1979 → 19 Feb, 10:07 pm 1979· 38 days
  3. Kumbha19 Feb, 10:07 pm 1979 → 30 Mar, 12:45 am 1979· 38 days
  4. Meena30 Mar, 12:45 am 1979 → 7 May, 9:29 pm 1979· 39 days
  5. Mesha7 May, 9:29 pm 1979 → 17 Jun, 8:26 am 1979· 40 days
  6. Vrishabha17 Jun, 8:26 am 1979 → 30 Jul, 4:49 am 1979· 43 days
  7. Mithuna30 Jul, 4:49 am 1979 → 14 Sep, 12:46 pm 1979· 46 days
  8. Karka14 Sep, 12:46 pm 1979 → 6 Nov, 3:21 pm 1979· 53 days
  9. Simha6 Nov, 3:21 pm 1979 → 29 Jun, 3:22 am 1980· about 8 months

Date by date

Times in IST.

January 1979

  • 12 Jan4:12 pm

    Mangala enters Makara

February 1979

  • 19 Feb10:07 pm

    Mangala enters Kumbha

March 1979

  • 30 Mar12:45 am

    Mangala enters Meena

April 1979

  • 9 Apr1:35 am

    Mangala rises again (asta ends)†

May 1979

  • 7 May9:29 pm

    Mangala enters Mesha

June 1979

  • 17 Jun8:26 am

    Mangala enters Vrishabha

July 1979

  • 30 Jul4:49 am

    Mangala enters Mithuna

September 1979

  • 14 Sep12:46 pm

    Mangala enters Karka

November 1979

  • 6 Nov3:21 pm

    Mangala enters Simha

† Practice varies. Mangala is counted asta within 17° of the Sun (Surya Siddhanta); some almanacs use another limit or a visibility rule.

See also: Mangala (glossary) · Gochar 1979: 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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