Free calculator
Solar return chart calculator
Your solar return is the moment each year when the Sun comes back to where it was when you were born. Its chart is the astrologer's birthday forecast for the year ahead.
How the solar return is calculated
We take the Sun's apparent ecliptic longitude at your birth, then search the days around your birthday in the chosen year for the moment it returns to that longitude, to the minute. A full chart — Placidus houses, Ascendant and Midheaven — is then cast for that moment at the city you chose. It uses the same ephemeris as our birth chart calculator, checked against NASA JPL Horizons.
Frequently asked questions
What is a solar return chart?
A chart cast for the moment the Sun returns to the exact degree, minute and second it held when you were born. That happens once a year, on or within a day of your birthday. Astrologers read it as a forecast of themes for the year until your next birthday.
Which location should I use?
Most astrologers cast the solar return for where you actually are at the moment of the return, which is why you can enter a different city. Some prefer the birthplace. The return moment is the same everywhere; only the Ascendant and houses change.
Why does it need my exact birth time?
The Sun moves about 1° a day, so a birth time that is an hour off moves the return moment by about an hour, and the solar return Ascendant by roughly 15°. The planets' signs are barely affected.
What do astrologers look at first?
The solar return Ascendant (the tone of the year), the house the Sun falls in (where your focus goes), the Moon's sign and house (emotional needs) and any planets close to the four angles.
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.