Solar Return Chart Calculator
Enter your birth details and a year to get the exact moment of your solar return and the chart for it.
A solar return is the moment each year when the Sun comes back to the exact position it held when you were born. It falls on your birthday or within a day of it. The chart drawn for that moment is your solar return chart, and astrologers read it as a forecast for the year running from that birthday to the next. You need your birth date, time and place, and the year you want.
How the calculator works
First the calculator finds where the Sun was at the minute of your birth, to a fraction of an arcsecond. Then it searches the days around your birthday in the year you chose for the instant the Sun reaches that same point again. Last, it draws the chart for that instant at the place you chose: the rising sign and Midheaven, and the sign and house of the Sun, the Moon and the eight planets.
The Sun moves about one degree a day, so timing is everything. We compared our Sun positions with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at 9 dates between 1950 and 2030, and the largest gap was 0.8 arcseconds. The Sun covers that in about 19 seconds, so the return time is good to well under a minute.
Why it is not always on your birthday
The Sun takes 365 days and about six hours to go round the zodiac, and the calendar has only 365 days. So each solar return comes about 5 hours 47 minutes later by the clock than the one before, until a leap year pulls it back a day. For someone born on June 15, 1995 in Chicago, the returns up to age 80 fall on June 15 in 31 years and on June 14 in 49.
Why each year's chart is so different
That six-hour step turns the sky about a quarter of the way round. So the rising sign of the solar return chart moves on by several signs each year, and the Sun falls back through the houses by the same number. In the example below the jump is between 2 and 5 signs. After four years the chart comes back close to where it started, then slowly drifts.
A worked example
Take someone born at 2:30 pm on June 15, 1995 in Chicago. The Sun was at 24°13′ Gemini. The table gives the moment it returns to that point in each year, in Chicago time, and the chart that results if the person is in Chicago.
| Year | Solar return | Rising sign | Sun in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | June 14, 2024 at 2:47 PM | Libra | 9th house |
| 2025 | June 14, 2025 at 8:41 PM | Sagittarius | 7th house |
| 2026 | June 15, 2026 at 2:26 AM | Taurus | 2nd house |
| 2027 | June 15, 2027 at 8:05 AM | Cancer | 12th house |
| 2028 | June 14, 2028 at 2:01 PM | Libra | 9th house |
| 2029 | June 14, 2029 at 7:47 PM | Sagittarius | 7th house |
| 2030 | June 15, 2030 at 1:26 AM | Aries | 3rd house |
| 2031 | June 15, 2031 at 7:18 AM | Cancer | 12th house |
Birthplace or where you are now?
Astrologers are split. Some always draw the solar return for the birthplace. Others draw it for wherever you are at the moment of the return, on the reasoning that this is the sky you are under. The moment itself is the same everywhere. What changes with the place is the rising sign, the Midheaven and the houses.
In the example above, the 2026 return falls on June 15, 2026 at 2:26 AM, Chicago time. In Chicago the rising sign is Taurus and the Sun is in the 2nd house. Spend that birthday in London and the same instant gives Leo rising with the Sun in the 11th house. The calculator uses your birthplace unless you enter another city, so you can compare the two.
How to read the chart
A solar return chart is read more simply than a birth chart. Astrologers usually start with four things, and the calculator reports each one.
- The rising sign sets the tone of the year and how you come across during it.
- The house the Sun is in shows where most of your attention goes.
- Planets on the angles, within 8 degrees of the Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant or IC, are the loudest themes of the year.
- The Moon, by sign, house and phase, describes the emotional weather.
Rising sign of the solar return
Aries rising in the solar return
An Aries rising year is read as a fresh start. You act first and more independently than usual, and the year rewards initiative. Astrologers call it a year for beginning things, not finishing them.
Taurus rising in the solar return
With Taurus rising in the return, the year slows and steadies. Money, comfort, the body and building something durable come forward. The usual advice is patience: results come from staying the course.
Gemini rising in the solar return
Gemini rising marks a busy, talkative year. Learning, writing, short trips, siblings and neighbours feature, and plans multiply. Astrologers warn of scattered attention more than of any real difficulty.
Cancer rising in the solar return
A Cancer rising year turns toward home. Family, housing, roots and emotional security take priority, and you may feel more private than usual. It is often read as a year for moving, nesting or caring for someone.
Leo rising in the solar return
With Leo rising, the year puts you on show. Creativity, romance, children and recognition are the themes, and confidence runs higher. The traditional reading is a year to be seen and to enjoy yourself.
Virgo rising in the solar return
Virgo rising brings a working year. Health, routines, skills and getting the details of daily life in order come to the front. Astrologers describe it as productive and unglamorous: a year of repair and improvement.
Libra rising in the solar return
A Libra rising year is about other people. Partnerships, agreements and questions of fairness set the agenda, and you do more in tandem than alone. It is commonly read as a year when a relationship begins, deepens or is renegotiated.
Scorpio rising in the solar return
With Scorpio rising, the year goes deep. Endings, shared money, intimacy and private change are the themes, and little stays on the surface. Astrologers read it as a year of shedding something for good.
Sagittarius rising in the solar return
Sagittarius rising opens the year out. Travel, study, publishing, belief and a wider view of your life come forward, with optimism to match. The caution is overreach: promising or spending more than the year can carry.
Capricorn rising in the solar return
A Capricorn rising year is serious and ambitious. Career, responsibility, status and long-term structure take the lead, and you are judged by results. Astrologers call it a year of hard work that counts.
Aquarius rising in the solar return
With Aquarius rising, the year breaks routine. Friends, groups, new technology and unexpected changes of direction feature, and you need more freedom than usual. It is read as a year to experiment.
Pisces rising in the solar return
Pisces rising softens the year. Rest, imagination, spiritual life and endings that happen quietly are the themes, and direction can feel unclear. Astrologers advise going with events instead of forcing them.
The Sun in each solar return house
Houses are counted in whole signs from the rising sign of the return chart.
Sun in the first house
The Sun in the first house puts the year on you: your body, your identity, your own plans. It is read as a year of renewed vitality and of making personal decisions without waiting for others.
Sun in the second house
In the second house, the Sun turns the year toward money, possessions and self-worth. Earning, spending and deciding what you value take up much of your attention.
Sun in the third house
The Sun in the third house makes for a year of communication. Study, writing, short journeys, siblings and neighbours feature, and daily life is busy.
Sun in the fourth house
In the fourth house, the Sun points home. Family, property, parents and private life are the centre of the year, and it often coincides with a move or a change in the household.
Sun in the fifth house
The Sun in the fifth house is read as a year for pleasure and creation. Romance, children, hobbies and anything you make for the joy of it take the light.
Sun in the sixth house
In the sixth house, the Sun brings a year of work and health. Daily routines, service, colleagues and looking after the body need steady attention.
Sun in the seventh house
The Sun in the seventh house puts relationships first. Marriage, business partners and one-to-one dealings shape the year, and much depends on other people.
Sun in the eighth house
In the eighth house, the Sun marks a year of deep change. Shared finances, debts, inheritance, intimacy and letting go are the usual themes.
Sun in the ninth house
The Sun in the ninth house widens the year. Travel, higher study, teaching, legal matters and questions of belief come forward.
Sun in the tenth house
In the tenth house, the Sun shines on career and reputation. It is read as a year of visibility, responsibility and achievement, when what you do is noticed.
Sun in the eleventh house
The Sun in the eleventh house makes it a year of friends, groups and long-term hopes. Networks matter, and goals set earlier start to pay off.
Sun in the twelfth house
In the twelfth house, the Sun draws the year inward. Rest, solitude, endings and work behind the scenes are the themes, in preparation for the next cycle.
Questions people ask
How long does a solar return chart last?
One year, from the moment of the return to the next one. Many astrologers find its themes start to show up to three months before the birthday, as the old year winds down.
Is my solar return on my birthday?
Usually, but it can fall the day before or the day after, depending on the year and on the time zone you are in. The calculator gives the exact date and clock time for the place you choose.
Do I need an exact birth time?
Yes. An error of four minutes in the birth time moves the solar return by four minutes and its rising degree by about one degree. A birth time that is an hour out will often give the wrong rising sign for the year. The calculator tells you whether ten minutes either way would change yours.
Can I change my year by travelling for my birthday?
Some astrologers think so, and plan birthday trips to put a helpful sign on the Ascendant. It only applies if you use the location method. The planets' signs and the Moon's phase are the same wherever you are; only the angles and houses move.
How is a solar return different from my birth chart?
Your birth chart is fixed for life. A solar return chart is a new chart every year with one thing held constant: the Sun, which is always at its birth degree. Astrologers read it against the birth chart, not instead of it.
Which year should I enter?
The calendar year of the birthday that starts the period you care about. For the year ahead, enter the year of your next birthday. If your birthday this year has already passed, that return is the one in force now.