Solar Return Calculator
— cast your chart for the year, from birthday to birthday
The exact moment when the Sun returns to its natal position gives a new chart — the chart of your coming year. It is the classic Western technique of annual forecasting, founded on Ptolemy's principle of cycles.
What is a Solar Return?
Solar Return (the solar, the return of the Sun) is the moment when the transiting Sun returns to exactly the same ecliptic longitude it held at the moment of your birth. This is not your calendar birthday — it is an astronomically precise moment.
A chart built for that moment — cast for the place where you actually are on your birthday, not for your birthplace — describes the theme and dynamics of the next 12 months, until the following return of the Sun. That is why location matters for a solar return, and why some astrologers deliberately relocate for their birthday.
This is the main technique of annual forecasting in Western astrology; it is mentioned as far back as Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos (2nd century CE) and was systematised by Mary Shea and Celeste Teal in the 20th century.
The 4 main indicators of the solar return
Solar ASC — the main theme of the year
The sign rising on the horizon at the moment of return. It is the mask and the focus of your actions for the next 12 months.
Solar MC — the career summit
Where the events of the year will lead you socially — a promotion, a change of profession, a public appearance.
House of the solar Sun
In which of the 12 houses of the solar chart the Sun stands — the area of life you will live through most intensely.
Solar Moon — the emotional backdrop
Where your inner state lives, and where you will react most strongly on an emotional level.
Solar Return Calculator FAQ
You need your birth date, exact birth time and birthplace, plus the city where you will be on your birthday. The calculator finds the astronomical moment the Sun returns to its exact natal degree and casts a full chart for that instant at your chosen location — Ascendant, houses, planets and aspects for the year ahead.
Yes, decisively. Cast the chart for the place you will actually be at the moment of the return — that is the prevailing modern practice — not automatically for your birthplace. The planets are the same anywhere on Earth; the Ascendant, Midheaven and house positions change with geography, and they carry most of the year's interpretation.
None — the return moment is computed, not chosen. The calculator determines astronomically when the Sun reaches the exact zodiac position it occupied at your birth, down to the second. What does need to be accurate is your birth time, because it fixes the natal solar degree the whole calculation targets.
One full year: from the moment of this return until the next one, birthday to birthday. The chart's themes typically become noticeable within the first weeks of the new solar year and are often triggered at specific points later on, when transits activate the return chart's angles and planets.
Yes — solar return relocation is an established technique. Being in a different place at the moment of the return re-draws the houses and angles of the year's chart, moving planets into more (or less) welcome houses. Practitioners compute the return for several candidate cities before deciding; the calculator lets you compare locations.
Yes. An error in the birth time shifts the natal Sun's degree slightly, which moves the computed return moment — and even a modest shift in the return time changes the solar return Ascendant and the house layout of the entire year. If your birth time is uncertain, verify or rectify it first.
Build your Solar Return
The exact date of the Sun's return + interpretation of the ASC, MC, houses and all 10 planets of the solar chart.
Build my solar return for free