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Panchang · Gochar · Mangala (Mars)

Mangala gochar in 2001

Mangala changes sign 6 times in 2001: Vrishchika on 3 Feb, Dhanu on 10 Apr, Vrishchika on 10 Jun (moving back, retrograde), Dhanu on 27 Aug …. Retrograde from 12 May.

Times in Sydney (Australia/Sydney, AEDT/AEST).

Mangala’s signs through 2001

  1. Tula13 Dec, 6:23 pm 2000 → 3 Feb, 8:02 pm 2001· 52 days
  2. Vrishchika3 Feb, 8:02 pm 2001 → 10 Apr, 10:45 pm 2001· about 2 months
  3. Dhanu10 Apr, 10:45 pm 2001 → 10 Jun, 3:56 pm 2001· about 2 months
  4. Vrishchika(entered moving backward)10 Jun, 3:56 pm 2001 → 27 Aug, 1:47 am 2001· about 3 months
  5. Dhanu27 Aug, 1:47 am 2001 → 19 Oct, 1:31 am 2001· 53 days
  6. Makara19 Oct, 1:31 am 2001 → 30 Nov, 10:35 pm 2001· 43 days
  7. Kumbha30 Nov, 10:35 pm 2001 → 11 Jan, 12:43 am 2002· 41 days

Date by date

Times in Sydney (Australia/Sydney, AEDT/AEST).

February 2001

  • 3 Feb8:02 pm

    Mangala enters Vrishchika

April 2001

  • 10 Apr10:45 pm

    Mangala enters Dhanu

May 2001

  • 12 May2:03 am

    Mangala turns retrograde at 5°11′ Dhanu

June 2001

  • 10 Jun3:56 pm

    Mangala enters Vrishchika (moving backward)

July 2001

  • 20 Jul8:48 am

    Mangala turns direct at 21°14′ Vrishchika

August 2001

  • 27 Aug1:47 am

    Mangala enters Dhanu

October 2001

  • 19 Oct1:31 am

    Mangala enters Makara

November 2001

  • 30 Nov10:35 pm

    Mangala enters Kumbha

† 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 2001: 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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