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Retrograde planets in 2026 and 2027.
Every planet from Mercury to Pluto goes retrograde: seen from Earth, it seems to stop and drift backward through the zodiac for a while. Mercury does it three or four times a year, Venus about every 19 months, Mars about every 26 months, and Jupiter through Pluto for four to five and a half months every year.
Every loop from Mercury out to Pluto: the day and hour each planet stations retrograde and direct, the degree it turns on, and the shadow before and after. Computed from each planet's real motion, with what is retrograde right now at the top.
Right now
Retrograde
- Saturndirect Dec 10, 2026
- Uranusdirect Feb 8, 2027
- Neptunedirect Dec 12, 2026
- Plutodirect Oct 16, 2026
In the shadow
- Venusretrograde Oct 3, 2026
- Jupiterretrograde Dec 13, 2026
Retrograde planets in 2026
- Mercury
- Venus
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
- Pluto
Mercury
Feb 26, 2026 · Mar 20, 202623 days
- Stations retrograde
- February 26 at 06:48 UTC ·22°34′ Pisces
- Stations direct
- March 20 at 19:32 UTC ·8°29′ Pisces
- Shadow
- Feb 11, 2026 · Apr 9, 2026
Jun 29, 2026 · Jul 23, 202624 days
- Stations retrograde
- June 29 at 17:35 UTC ·26°15′ Cancer
- Stations direct
- July 23 at 22:57 UTC ·16°19′ Cancer
- Shadow
- Jun 13, 2026 · Aug 7, 2026
Oct 24, 2026 · Nov 13, 202620 days
- Stations retrograde
- October 24 at 07:11 UTC ·20°59′ Scorpio
- Stations direct
- November 13 at 15:54 UTC ·5°02′ Scorpio
- Shadow
- Oct 4, 2026 · Nov 30, 2026
Venus
Oct 3, 2026 · Nov 14, 202642 days
- Stations retrograde
- October 3 at 07:15 UTC ·8°29′ Scorpio
- Stations direct
- November 14 at 00:27 UTC ·22°52′ Libra
- Shadow
- Aug 31, 2026 · Dec 15, 2026
Mars
Mars does not turn retrograde in 2026.
Jupiter
Nov 11, 2025 · Mar 11, 2026119 days
- Stations retrograde
- November 11 at 16:41 UTC ·25°09′ Cancer
- Stations direct
- March 11 at 03:29 UTC ·15°05′ Cancer
- Shadow
- Aug 17, 2025 · Jun 6, 2026
Dec 13, 2026 · Apr 13, 2027121 days
- Stations retrograde
- December 13 at 00:56 UTC ·27°01′ Leo
- Stations direct
- April 13 at 02:10 UTC ·17°00′ Leo
- Shadow
- Sep 17, 2026 · Jul 11, 2027
Saturn
Jul 26, 2026 · Dec 10, 2026137 days
- Stations retrograde
- July 26 at 19:55 UTC ·14°45′ Aries
- Stations direct
- December 10 at 23:30 UTC ·7°56′ Aries
- Shadow
- Apr 20, 2026 · Mar 15, 2027
Uranus
Sep 6, 2025 · Feb 4, 2026151 days
- Stations retrograde
- September 6 at 04:50 UTC ·1°28′ Gemini
- Stations direct
- February 4 at 02:32 UTC ·27°28′ Taurus
- Shadow
- May 20, 2025 · May 21, 2026
Sep 10, 2026 · Feb 8, 2027151 days
- Stations retrograde
- September 10 at 18:26 UTC ·5°42′ Gemini
- Stations direct
- February 8 at 12:29 UTC ·1°41′ Gemini
- Shadow
- May 25, 2026 · May 26, 2027
Neptune
Jul 7, 2026 · Dec 12, 2026158 days
- Stations retrograde
- July 7 at 10:56 UTC ·4°25′ Aries
- Stations direct
- December 12 at 22:18 UTC ·1°37′ Aries
- Shadow
- Mar 16, 2026 · Apr 2, 2027
Pluto
May 6, 2026 · Oct 16, 2026162 days
- Stations retrograde
- May 6 at 15:33 UTC ·5°31′ Aquarius
- Stations direct
- October 16 at 02:39 UTC ·3°04′ Aquarius
- Shadow
- Jan 12, 2026 · Feb 7, 2027
Retrograde planets in 2027
- Mercury
- Venus
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- Uranus
- Neptune
- Pluto
Mercury
Feb 9, 2027 · Mar 3, 202722 days
- Stations retrograde
- February 9 at 17:35 UTC ·5°59′ Pisces
- Stations direct
- March 3 at 12:32 UTC ·20°55′ Aquarius
- Shadow
- Jan 25, 2027 · Mar 23, 2027
Jun 10, 2027 · Jul 4, 202724 days
- Stations retrograde
- June 10 at 18:15 UTC ·6°22′ Cancer
- Stations direct
- July 4 at 19:38 UTC ·27°28′ Gemini
- Shadow
- May 26, 2027 · Jul 19, 2027
Oct 7, 2027 · Oct 28, 202721 days
- Stations retrograde
- October 7 at 14:36 UTC ·4°56′ Scorpio
- Stations direct
- October 28 at 14:10 UTC ·19°19′ Libra
- Shadow
- Sep 17, 2027 · Nov 13, 2027
Venus
Venus does not turn retrograde in 2027.
Mars
Jan 10, 2027 · Apr 1, 202781 days
- Stations retrograde
- January 10 at 12:58 UTC ·10°26′ Virgo
- Stations direct
- April 1 at 14:08 UTC ·20°56′ Leo
- Shadow
- Nov 5, 2026 · Jun 8, 2027
Jupiter
Dec 13, 2026 · Apr 13, 2027121 days
- Stations retrograde
- December 13 at 00:56 UTC ·27°01′ Leo
- Stations direct
- April 13 at 02:10 UTC ·17°00′ Leo
- Shadow
- Sep 17, 2026 · Jul 11, 2027
Saturn
Aug 9, 2027 · Dec 24, 2027136 days
- Stations retrograde
- August 9 at 18:06 UTC ·27°53′ Aries
- Stations direct
- December 24 at 02:46 UTC ·21°01′ Aries
- Shadow
- May 4, 2027 · Mar 27, 2028
Uranus
Sep 10, 2026 · Feb 8, 2027151 days
- Stations retrograde
- September 10 at 18:26 UTC ·5°42′ Gemini
- Stations direct
- February 8 at 12:29 UTC ·1°41′ Gemini
- Shadow
- May 25, 2026 · May 26, 2027
Sep 15, 2027 · Feb 12, 2028151 days
- Stations retrograde
- September 15 at 09:08 UTC ·9°57′ Gemini
- Stations direct
- February 12 at 23:48 UTC ·5°56′ Gemini
- Shadow
- May 30, 2027 · May 29, 2028
Neptune
Jul 9, 2027 · Dec 15, 2027158 days
- Stations retrograde
- July 9 at 22:42 UTC ·6°40′ Aries
- Stations direct
- December 15 at 09:07 UTC ·3°51′ Aries
- Shadow
- Mar 18, 2027 · Apr 4, 2028
Pluto
May 8, 2027 · Oct 18, 2027163 days
- Stations retrograde
- May 8 at 12:55 UTC ·7°11′ Aquarius
- Stations direct
- October 18 at 03:49 UTC ·4°45′ Aquarius
- Shadow
- Jan 13, 2027 · Feb 9, 2028
Station times are in UTC and rounded to the minute, so near midnight the date can fall a day earlier in the Americas or a day later in Asia and Australia. A station is the moment the planet's apparent motion along the zodiac reaches zero, computed from its real position. Our stations agree with NASA JPL Horizons to within a few minutes, and to within the hour for Pluto, which barely moves at a station.
§ 01
What a retrograde is
Seen from Earth, every planet now and then seems to stop, drift backward along the zodiac, stop again and move on. Nothing reverses in space. Earth and the other planet travel around the Sun at different speeds, and as one overtakes the other the line of sight swings back for a few weeks or months.
The two turning points are the stations. A planet stations retrograde when its forward motion falls to zero and it starts to slip back, and stations direct when the backward drift ends. Around each station it hardly moves at all, which is why astrologers treat those days as the loudest part of a retrograde.
§ 02
The shadow
A retrograde retraces ground. The pre-shadow begins when the planet, still moving forward, first reaches the degree where it will later station direct; the post-shadow ends when it passes the degree where it stationed retrograde. Between those two dates it covers the same stretch of the zodiac three times.
For Mercury the shadow adds two or three weeks at each end. For the slow outer planets it fills most of the year, which is why many astrologers pay it little attention beyond Mars. The calendar lists it for every planet so you can weigh it yourself.
§ 03
Fast planets and slow planets
Mercury turns retrograde three or four times a year for about three weeks, Venus every nineteen months for about six weeks, and Mars every twenty six months for two to two and a half months. These are the retrogrades people notice, because they are rare or short enough to stand out.
From Jupiter outward the picture flips. Jupiter is retrograde about four months a year, Saturn four and a half, Uranus five, Neptune and Pluto five to six. For the outer planets a retrograde is a regular season of the year, read as a time to review what that planet stands for.
§ 04
Reading the calendar
Each row is one planet in one year. The solid bar is the retrograde itself, from station retrograde to station direct; the lighter bars on either side are the pre-shadow and the post-shadow. Times in the station table are in UTC, so a station at 22:00 UTC already falls on the next day in Istanbul, Sofia or Berlin. The live block at the top uses your own clock.
Overlaps say more than any single bar. When Mercury turns retrograde while Venus or Mars is retrograde too, astrologers read the weeks as a double review: plans and relationships, or plans and drive, both asked to slow down at once. In most years at least two of the outer planets are retrograde at the same time, so their overlaps are background rather than news.
To see what a retrograde touches in your own chart, note the sign and degree in the station table and look for that degree in your birth chart. A station within a few degrees of your Sun, Moon or rising sign is the one worth watching.
§ 05
How these dates are computed
Each planet's apparent position comes from planetary theory (VSOP87 for Mercury to Neptune, Meeus for Pluto), corrected for light time, aberration and nutation. The same engine draws the birth chart. The stations are the instants when the planet's motion in longitude changes sign, found to the minute.
Nothing here is copied from a printed ephemeris, and there is no stored list to go stale: the whole table is recomputed from the planets' motion every time the site is built. Mercury has its own page with a live answer and every period since 2024: is Mercury retrograde.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- Which planets are retrograde in 2026?
- All of them except Mars. Mercury turns retrograde three times, Venus once in the autumn, and Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto each have their yearly loop. Mars stays direct all year; its next retrograde begins in January 2027. The tables above give every date.
- Which planets are retrograde in 2027?
- Every planet except Venus. Mars is retrograde from January to April, its first loop since early 2025, and Mercury again turns retrograde three times. Venus stays direct through 2027.
- What does it mean when a planet stations?
- A station is the moment a planet appears to stand still before changing direction. It stations retrograde at the start of a loop and stations direct at the end. The times on this page are in UTC, to the minute.
- Why are the Sun and Moon never retrograde?
- Retrograde motion comes from Earth overtaking, or being overtaken by, another planet on the way around the Sun. The Moon circles Earth itself, and the Sun's apparent path is Earth's own orbit seen from inside, so both always move forward through the zodiac.