Solar Return Chart Calculator
Your solar return is the exact moment each year when the Sun comes back to the degree it held at your birth. Enter your birth details, the year, and where you will be on your birthday to get the exact return time and the chart for that moment.
What a solar return is
Once a year the Sun, as seen from Earth, comes back to the exact zodiac degree, minute and second it held when you were born. A chart cast for that instant is your solar return chart, and astrologers traditionally read it as the theme of your year, birthday to birthday. It is one of the oldest forecasting techniques in Western astrology, and like all of them it is symbolic: we read it as a prompt for intentions, not a forecast of events, and it says nothing about health, money or legal matters.
Why your solar return is not always on your birthday
The Sun takes about 365.24 days to return to the same degree, while the calendar year has 365 days. So the return moment slips about 5 hours and 49 minutes later each year, and jumps back by about a day after each leap day. On top of that, the return is a single instant worldwide, so its local date depends on where you are.
Example: if you were born at 12:30 UT on 14 July, your return in a given year might fall at, say, 20:00 UT on 14 July. In Los Angeles that is still the afternoon of 14 July; in Tokyo it is already early on 15 July. The calculator shows the moment in Universal Time and in the time zone of the place you choose.
Which location to use
The planets in a solar return chart are the same everywhere on Earth, but the Ascendant, Midheaven and houses depend on the place. Modern practice mostly casts the chart for where you are at the moment of the return, which is why some people travel for their birthday to get a chart they like. Others always use the birthplace, or the place they live. The calculator lets you pick any city, and switching places shows clearly which parts of the chart change (angles and houses) and which do not (planets in signs, aspects).
A few astrologers also use a "precessed" solar return that corrects for the slow shift of the equinox, which after 60 years moves the moment by about 20 hours (precession of about 50 seconds of arc a year adds up to 0.84 degrees, almost a day of the Sun's motion). We use the standard tropical return.
How astrologers read a solar return
- The return Ascendant is read as the tone of the year.
- The house of the return Sun is read as the area of life where your attention goes. Because the Sun is at the same degree every year, its house changes only with the time and place, which shifts each year in a roughly repeating pattern.
- The return Moon is read as the emotional climate of the year.
- Planets on the angles are read as the year's prominent themes.
Read alongside your natal chart, not instead of it. For the Moon's monthly version of the same idea, see the lunar return calculator; for the sky's day-to-day contacts with your chart, the transit chart.
Common solar return mistakes
- Casting the chart for midnight on your birthday. The return is a precise moment, often many hours from midnight, and the angles change every few minutes.
- An inexact birth time. The Sun moves about 1 degree a day, so a birth time off by an hour moves the return moment by about an hour too, and the return Ascendant with it.
- The wrong year. The return chart for your birthday in a given year covers the twelve months that follow it.
For a tarot reading to set intentions for the year, try the monthly tarot spread or the Celtic Cross.
Questions
What is a solar return chart?
A chart cast for the exact moment each year when the Sun returns to its natal degree. Astrologers read it as the theme of the year from one birthday to the next.
How do I calculate my solar return?
Enter your birth date, time and place, the year you want, and the place you will be at your birthday. The solar return calculator finds the exact return moment, shown to the second and accurate to within about a minute, and draws the chart.
Should I use my birthplace or current location for a solar return?
Most modern astrologers use where you are at the moment of the return. Some use the birthplace. The planets are the same either way; only the angles and houses change, so you can compare both.
Why is my solar return the day before my birthday?
Because the Sun's return slips about six hours later each year and then resets after leap years, and because the moment's local date depends on your time zone. It always falls within about a day of your birthday.
Does my solar return predict my year?
No. It is a symbolic tradition that many people use to reflect and set intentions. It cannot predict events, health, money or relationships.
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