The planets at a glance
- Astrology uses ten bodies: the Sun and Moon (the luminaries) plus Mercury through Pluto.
- Each moves at a different speed - the Moon crosses a sign in ~2.5 days, Pluto takes years.
- The faster a body, the more 'personal' its placement; slow outer planets mark whole generations.
Ten bodies, ordered by speed
| Body | Glyph | Full cycle (one orbit / zodiac loop) | Class | Rules |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | ☉ | ~365.25 days | Luminary | Leo |
| Moon | ☽ | ~27.3 days (sidereal) | Luminary | Cancer |
| Mercury | ☿ | ~88 days | Personal | Gemini, Virgo |
| Venus | ♀ | ~225 days | Personal | Taurus, Libra |
| Mars | ♂ | ~687 days (~1.9 yr) | Personal | Aries (Scorpio, classical) |
| Jupiter | ♃ | ~11.9 years | Social | Sagittarius (Pisces, classical) |
| Saturn | ♄ | ~29.5 years | Social | Capricorn (Aquarius, classical) |
| Uranus | ♅ | ~84 years | Transpersonal | Aquarius (modern) |
| Neptune | ♆ | ~165 years | Transpersonal | Pisces (modern) |
| Pluto | ♇ | ~248 years | Transpersonal | Scorpio (modern) |
Why speed matters
A body's orbital period sets how long it stays in one sign, and that drives how astrologers read it. The Moon changes sign every couple of days, so it is treated as the most personal and fast-moving marker. The Sun, Mercury and Venus stay close to the Sun and never stray far from your birth-month sign.
Jupiter and Saturn - the 'social' planets - take years per sign and are shared by everyone born in the same span. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto move so slowly that everyone in a generation shares the same sign placement, which is why they are called transpersonal.
Notes on the table
- Cycle lengths are sidereal orbital periods (one full loop against the stars), rounded.
- The Sun and Moon are not planets astronomically, but astrology counts them among the ten 'planets' of a chart.
- Rulerships show the modern assignment first; the classical ruler is noted in parentheses where it differs.
- Pluto is a dwarf planet astronomically (IAU, 2006) but is retained in astrological practice.
Orbital period and apparent motion through 2026
| Planet | Orbital period | Position Jan 1 2026 | Position Dec 31 2026 | Days retrograde in 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | 88.0 days | 28°39' Sagittarius | 8°18' Capricorn | 67 |
| Venus | 224.7 days | 9°12' Capricorn | 22°30' Scorpio | 42 |
| Mars | 687.0 days | 12°41' Capricorn | 9°45' Virgo | 0 |
| Jupiter | 11.9 years | 21°21' Cancer | 26°30' Leo | 240 |
| Saturn | 29.5 years | 26°10' Pisces | 8°18' Aries | 137 |
| Uranus | 84.0 years | 27°57' Taurus | 2°20' Gemini | 302 |
| Neptune | 164.8 years | 29°31' Pisces | 1°43' Aries | 158 |
| Pluto | 247.9 years | 2°43' Aquarius | 4°19' Aquarius | 162 |
Reading the year's motion
The two position columns show how far each planet travels against the zodiac in a single year, and the contrast is the whole story of the outer solar system: Mercury laps the ecliptic four times while Pluto shifts by a couple of degrees. Orbital period is the sidereal period - one full circuit relative to the fixed stars - taken from the same planetary theory that produces the positions.
The retrograde column is apparent motion, not orbital motion. It scales inversely with speed, which is why the slowest bodies spend the largest share of the year appearing to move backwards.