Lunar nodes
Rahu and Ketu by birth date
Vedic and Western calculators give a different Rahu sign for four people out of five. Enter your birth date to see both signs with the nakshatra and pada, plus the house if you know your birth time.
The nodes in brief
Why another site shows a different Rahu sign
Rahu and Ketu are the points where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's. Their position is calculated the same way everywhere; the sign depends on two choices: where the zodiac starts and which node you take. That gives four possible answers, and the calculator shows them side by side.
- Two zodiacs
- The Western, tropical zodiac is tied to the spring equinox; the Vedic, sidereal one is tied to the stars. The Earth's axis slowly precesses, and the two drift apart by about a degree every 72 years; by the Lahiri ayanamsa they are 24.2° apart today. For Rahu that means a different sign for four birth dates out of five.
- Mean and true node
- The mean node is an averaged position: it moves backward through the zodiac at a steady pace, about 19° a year. The true node follows the wobble of the Moon's orbit and strays up to two degrees from the mean one. They land in different signs for about 3% of dates.
- Birth time
- A date is enough for the sign and the nakshatra: the Rahu sign changes during the day of birth for only 0.18% of dates. The time is needed for the house: houses are counted in whole signs from the Lagna, and the Lagna runs through the whole zodiac in a day.
- Nodes and eclipses
- The nodes are where eclipses happen. The Sun comes close to one of them roughly every 173 days, and those are the weeks of solar and lunar eclipses. A full circuit of the nodes through the zodiac takes 18.6 years, about a year and a half per sign.
Rahu now
Where Rahu and Ketu are now
The nodes move backward through the zodiac and change sign about every year and a half. Dates are for the mean node, in UTC.
- Vedic zodiac
- Rahu in Aquarius, Ketu in Leo, from 18 May 2025 to 5 December 2026; Rahu's next sign is Capricorn.
- Western zodiac
- Rahu in Aquarius, Ketu in Leo, from 18 August 2026 to 7 March 2028; Rahu's next sign is Capricorn.
Questions
Common questions about Rahu and Ketu
How do I calculate Rahu and Ketu from my birth date?
Enter your birth date and city: the calculator finds the position of the lunar node at that moment and shows the sign, degree, nakshatra and pada of Rahu, with Ketu exactly opposite. The birth time is needed only for the house. The calculation runs on the Swiss Ephemeris, the same ephemeris professional astrology software uses.
Do I need my birth time?
For the sign and nakshatra, almost never. The node moves about 0.053° a day, so the Rahu sign changes during the day of birth for only 0.18% of dates, and the nakshatra for 0.40%. If your day is one of them, the calculator will tell you. The house does need the time: it is counted from the Lagna, which passes through all twelve signs in a day.
Why does another site show a different Rahu sign?
Most often it is the zodiac. Vedic sites calculate in the sidereal zodiac and Western ones in the tropical zodiac, and today the two are about 24° apart. Because of that shift, the Rahu sign differs for 78% of birth dates: that is what our calculation for every day from 1950 to 2009 shows. Less often the reason is the node model: the mean and true nodes fall in different signs for about 3% of dates. The calculator shows every variant at once.
Which node is correct, mean or true?
Both are astronomically correct. The mean node is an averaged position that moves steadily and always backward through the zodiac. The true node is the position at a given minute, and it swings up to two degrees either side of the mean one. Many Vedic programs and the Jyotish mode of a SidusVita reading use the mean node; some Western programs use the true one. The switch is in the line under the result.
What are Rahu and Ketu?
They are the points where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic, the Sun's apparent yearly path. Rahu is the north, or ascending, node and Ketu the south node. There is no planet at either point, yet eclipses happen at the nodes, which is where the myth of a demon swallowing the Sun and the Moon comes from. In Jyotish, Rahu is described as a hunger that is hard to satisfy, and Ketu as what comes easily and what you tend to pull away from. The nodes are called karmic; that is the language of the tradition, and no calculation can test it.
Where is Rahu now?
Vedic zodiac: Rahu in Aquarius, Ketu in Leo, from 18 May 2025 to 5 December 2026; Rahu's next sign is Capricorn. Western zodiac: Rahu in Aquarius, Ketu in Leo, from 18 August 2026 to 7 March 2028; Rahu's next sign is Capricorn.
Is Rahu Kaal the same thing?
Rahu Kaal is a different idea: in the Vedic calendar it is a stretch of about an hour and a half each day that is considered unlucky for starting things. It depends on the weekday and the sunrise time in your city and has nothing to do with the position of the nodes in a birth chart. This calculator works out the nodes only.
Are Rahu and Ketu part of a SidusVita reading?
Yes. Rahu and Ketu are among the thirteen points of the main chart reading and of the shadow reading. There the nodes are read together with their house, rulers and neighboring planets; here you see their sign, nakshatra and house.
Where next
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