Dates use Eastern Time (America/New_York), including daylight-saving changes. Event cards below also show UTC; the same station can fall on a different calendar date in another time zone.
Pluto turns retrograde at 19°52′ Leo on Nov 21, 1950, 11:01 AM ET (1950-11-21 16:01 UTC) and direct at 17°25′ Leo on Apr 30, 1951, 12:56 AM ET (1951-04-30 04:56 UTC).
Astrologers link this retrograde to creativity, romance and self-expression.
Shadow: Jul 28, 1950 – Aug 24, 1951.
What Pluto retrograde means
Pluto is associated with power, endings and deep transformation. It is retrograde for about five months every year: about 43% of the time from 1950 to 2050. Astrologers read the period as a time to revisit long processes of change from the inside, rather than force them outward.
Retrograde motion is an optical effect: Earth and Pluto move at different speeds, so Pluto appears to drift backward against the stars for a while. Our dates are station times — when the apparent motion reverses — calculated with Astronomy Engine; see the methodology.
Why Pluto appears to go backward
Pluto works the same way as Mars, only more slowly: Earth overtakes it once a year. Simplified circular orbits; the dates above come from the full ephemeris.
Pluto is retrograde once in 1950: Nov 21 – Apr 30 in Leo.
How long is Pluto retrograde in 1950?
About 40 days in total during 1950; each retrograde lasts 160 days. Including the pre- and post-shadow, each cycle spans roughly 392 days.
What is the Pluto retrograde shadow?
The pre-shadow starts when Pluto first reaches the degree where it will turn direct; the post-shadow ends when it passes the degree where it turned retrograde. The dates are in the table above.
Why do Pluto retrograde dates differ by time zone?
A station is one instant worldwide, but its calendar date depends on the time zone. This calendar displays Eastern Time, including daylight-saving changes, and the event cards also show UTC. A station shortly after midnight UTC can fall on the previous date in the Americas. Compare full timestamps before concluding that two calendars disagree.
Is Pluto still retrograde during the post-shadow?
No. The retrograde phase ends at the direct station. During the post-shadow, Pluto moves direct through the degrees it covered while retrograde, until it passes the earlier retrograde-station longitude. The direct date and post-shadow end date describe different events.
Astrology is a symbolic and cultural tradition. The planetary positions on this site are calculated with astronomical accuracy; the interpretations describe what astrologers associate with them and are not scientifically validated predictions about personality, relationships or the future.