Is Mercury retrograde? Check any date
See which planets are retrograde today or on any date, and when each retrograde starts and ends.
A planet is retrograde when, seen from Earth, it appears to move backward through the zodiac. Mercury does it about every four months for about three weeks. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are each retrograde for about four to five and a half months of every year. The dates here are computed from planet positions, not copied from a table.
How this is calculated
The motion
Each planet's apparent geocentric ecliptic longitude comes from Astronomy Engine. The checker compares it an hour either side of the moment checked. If the longitude is falling, the planet is retrograde.
The stations
The start and end of a retrograde are its stations, the moments the motion changes direction. The checker steps a day at a time to find the change, then narrows it to the minute. The station times match published ephemeris times to within minutes.
The time zone
A date is checked at noon in your device's time zone, and station dates and times are shown in that zone. A station close to midnight falls on different dates in different zones, which is why two lists can disagree by a day.
What retrograde means in astronomy
All the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction, and none of them ever turns around. Retrograde motion is how a planet looks from a moving Earth. When Earth, on its faster inside orbit, catches up with Mars, Jupiter or any planet farther out and passes it, that planet appears to stop, drift backward against the stars for a while, stop again and carry on. It is the same effect as overtaking a slower car on a highway: for a moment it seems to slide back.
Mercury and Venus orbit inside Earth's path, so for them it works the other way round: they turn retrograde when they swing between Earth and the Sun and overtake us. That is also when they are hardest to see. The outer planets go retrograde around the time they sit opposite the Sun, which is when they are closest to Earth, brightest, and up all night.
The moment a planet seems to stand still before reversing is called a station. A planet stations retrograde at the start of the backward stretch and stations direct at the end of it, and those two stations are the dates the checker gives.
What retrograde means in astrology
In astrology a retrograde planet is read as that planet's themes turning inward: a time to review rather than launch. Mercury is linked with speech, messages, short trips, paperwork and contracts, so Mercury retrograde is the one most people hear about. Astrologers suggest rereading messages before sending them, backing up files and leaving room in travel plans.
Venus retrograde is read as a time to reconsider relationships, taste and spending; Mars retrograde as a pause on new fights and big pushes. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are retrograde for months every year, so astrologers treat those as slow background shifts rather than events. There is no evidence that a retrograde changes what happens on Earth, so read all of this for entertainment, and as a prompt to slow down if that is useful.
A planet that was retrograde when you were born is read differently from a retrograde passing through the sky now. The birth chart calculator draws your chart, and the sample natal report shows how the full reading handles a retrograde planet.
How long each planet stays retrograde
- Mercury: about three weeks (20 to 24 days), about every four months.
- Venus: about six weeks (41 to 43 days), about every 19 months.
- Mars: two to almost three months (65 to 81 days), about every 26 months.
- Jupiter: about four months, every 13 months.
- Saturn: about four and a half months, every 12 and a half months.
- Uranus: about five months, once a year.
- Neptune: just over five months, once a year.
- Pluto: about 160 days, a little over five months, once a year.
The ranges are the shortest and longest retrogrades from 2020 to 2030, worked out with the same method as the checker. The Sun and the Moon are never retrograde.
Questions
Is Mercury retrograde right now?
The checker above opens on today's date in your time zone and answers for Mercury and every other planet. If Mercury is direct, it shows when the next Mercury retrograde starts and ends.
How often does Mercury go retrograde?
About every 116 days, which is three times in most years and occasionally four. Each Mercury retrograde lasts about three weeks: between 20 and 24 days for every one from 2020 to 2030.
Do planets really move backward?
No. Every planet keeps orbiting the Sun in the same direction. Retrograde motion is a viewing effect: Earth overtakes an outer planet on the inside track, or Mercury or Venus overtakes Earth, and for a while the planet seems to slide back against the stars.
Why are the Sun and Moon never retrograde?
The Moon orbits Earth itself, and the Sun's yearly path across the sky is a reflection of Earth's own orbit, so neither ever appears to reverse. Only the planets, which orbit the Sun alongside Earth, show retrograde loops.
What is a retrograde shadow?
Astrologers use shadow for the weeks before and after a retrograde, when the planet crosses the stretch of the zodiac it is about to cover, or has just covered, in reverse. This checker gives the retrograde itself, from station to station, and not the shadow.