Planet ingresses in 2006
When a planet changes sign it is called an ingress. The Sun changes sign every month, Mercury and Venus every few weeks, Jupiter once a year and Saturn every two to three years.
Events are calculated from Earth's center and happen at the same moment everywhere. Set your location to see the times in your own time zone.
Planets through the year
Ingress list
VenusAquarius →Capricorn℞
MercurySagittarius →Capricorn
SunCapricorn →Aquarius
MercuryCapricorn →Aquarius
VenusPisces →Aries
MercuryAries →Taurus
MercuryTaurus →Gemini
SunTaurus →Gemini
VenusAries →Taurus
MercuryGemini →Cancer
MarsCancer →Leo
SunGemini →Cancer
VenusTaurus →Gemini
MercuryCancer →Leo
VenusLeo →Virgo
MarsVirgo →Libra
MercuryVirgo →Libra
SunVirgo →Libra
VenusVirgo →Libra
MarsScorpio →Sagittarius
MercuryScorpio →Sagittarius
VenusSagittarius →Capricorn
SunSagittarius →Capricorn
MercurySagittarius →Capricorn
Planet ingresses in 2006 · Times shown in: UTC
When a planet enters a new sign, its themes take on that sign's style. When Venus moves into Aries, for example, relationships get a more direct, impatient tone.
During a retrograde a planet can slip back into the previous sign; the table marks those moves. The Moon's ingresses aren't listed here; you'll find them in the void-of-course calendar.
What is a planetary ingress?
An ingress is the moment a planet crosses into a new zodiac sign, that is, when its longitude passes 0° of the sign. It is one of the simplest events in astrology, yet it marks the start of a new chapter: the planet keeps its own meaning but begins expressing it through a different element, mode and style.
How often that happens depends entirely on speed. Approximate time spent in one sign:
- Sun: about a month, between roughly 29½ and 31½ days, shortest around the December solstice when Earth is nearest the Sun
- Mercury: from about two weeks to two months, the long stays happening when it turns retrograde
- Venus: usually four to five weeks; in a retrograde year it can stay in one sign for about four months
- Mars: usually six to seven weeks; during a retrograde it can linger for half a year or more
- Jupiter: about a year
- Saturn: about two and a half years
- Uranus: about seven years
- Neptune: about fourteen years
- Pluto: anywhere from about 12 to over 30 years, because of its eccentric orbit
So a year's list is dominated by the fast planets, while an outer-planet ingress may not appear for several years. When one does, it is usually the headline of the year.
How the ingress times are calculated
The site's own astronomical engine tracks the geocentric apparent longitude of each planet from the Sun to Pluto in the tropical zodiac. Wherever a planet's longitude crosses a multiple of 30°, the engine finds the crossing with a coarse scan and then refines it by bisection to sub-second precision. Times are computed in UTC and shown in the time zone you select.
Each entry is also checked for direction. If a planet crosses a boundary while retrograde, it is backing out of the sign it had just entered, and the list flags that ingress. Slow planets often cross the same boundary three times: forward, back during the retrograde, and forward again for good. Mercury, Venus and Mars can do the same around their retrogrades.
How to use the list
The Sun and the seasons
The Sun's four cardinal ingresses are the equinoxes and solstices. The Sun reaches 0° Aries at the March equinox, 0° Cancer at the June solstice, 0° Libra at the September equinox and 0° Capricorn at the December solstice. These are the astronomical definitions, not approximations, so the times listed for those ingresses are the exact equinox and solstice moments. In the Southern Hemisphere the seasons are reversed, but the zodiac points are the same.
Applying it to your birth chart
An ingress becomes personal through the houses. Find the sign in your birth chart and see which house it occupies; when a planet enters that sign, its themes start working in that area of your life. With the default Placidus houses a sign can straddle two houses, or sit entirely inside one (an intercepted sign); with whole sign houses each sign is exactly one house. Also note any natal planets in the sign: the transiting planet will pass over them during its stay.
Frequently asked questions
Are the Sun's ingresses the same as the equinoxes and solstices?
Yes. An equinox or solstice is defined by the Sun's apparent longitude reaching 0°, 90°, 180° or 270°, which are exactly 0° Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. The ingress time for those signs is the moment of the equinox or solstice.
What does the retrograde mark next to an ingress mean?
It means the planet was moving backwards when it crossed the boundary, so it is slipping back into the previous sign rather than moving forward. Astrologers usually read this as a return to unfinished business from the earlier sign before the planet re-enters the new one.
Which ingresses matter most?
Outer-planet ingresses, Jupiter through Pluto, shape the mood for years and are relatively rare, so they tend to stand out. The fast planets' ingresses describe shorter shifts in tone that are more noticeable when the sign involved is strong in your own chart.
Why does another source show a different time or sign?
First check the time zone, since a different zone can even move the ingress to another date. Sites using the sidereal zodiac place sign boundaries about 24 degrees from the tropical ones used here, so their ingresses fall weeks or even years apart for slow planets.