Outer planet transits
An outer planet transit is one of the slow planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune or Pluto, moving from one zodiac sign into the next. Jupiter changes sign about once a year, Saturn about every two and a half years, Uranus every seven, Neptune every fourteen, and Pluto every twelve to thirty-two. Every date below is computed from the planet's position, including the times a planet slips back out of a sign and re-enters it.
The five planets at a glance
| Planet | Governs | Time in a sign | Full circuit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jupiter | Growth, belief, generosity | About a year | About 12 years |
| Saturn | Structure, limits, duty | About 2.5 years | About 29.5 years |
| Uranus | Change, invention, independence | About 7 years | About 84 years |
| Neptune | Imagination, ideals, illusion | About 14 years | About 165 years |
| Pluto | Power, depth, transformation | 12 to 32 years | About 248 years |
Jupiter transits with the most searches
Growth, belief, generosity
Jupiter in Leo
June 30, 2026 to July 26, 2027
A year of warmth, display and generosity under the Sun's sign
Jupiter in Cancer
June 9, 2025 to June 30, 2026
Jupiter exalted: home, family and care at their most expansive
Jupiter in Scorpio
September 24, 2029 to October 22, 2030
Depth, shared resources and research in the sign of intensity
Jupiter in Libra
August 24, 2028 to September 24, 2029
A year for agreements, partnerships and a sense of fairness
Jupiter in Sagittarius
October 22, 2030 to November 15, 2031
Jupiter at home: belief, travel, study and a bigger horizon
Saturn transits with the most searches
Structure, limits, duty
Saturn in Pisces
March 7, 2023 to February 13, 2026
Structure meets the intangible: boundaries for faith and imagination
Saturn in Aries
around May 25, 2025 to April 13, 2028
Saturn in fall: initiative asked to grow patience and judgment
Saturn in Gemini
June 1, 2030 to July 13, 2032
Discipline for words, study and information
Uranus transits with the most searches
Change, invention, independence
Neptune transits with the most searches
Imagination, ideals, illusion
Pluto transits with the most searches
Power, depth, transformation
How to read a transit
Because these planets are slow, a sign change is a long background condition and not a daily event. Astrologers read a transit against a birth chart: the sign sets the tone, and the house it falls in for you shows which area of life the tone colours. The pages below give the dates, the tradition behind the sign, and a table of the house for every rising sign.
A transit page answers a different question from a natal placement page. A natal page, such as Venus in Scorpio, describes the sign a planet was in when you were born. A transit page describes where the planet is in the sky over a stated period. If you are looking for the first, start with planets in signs.
Why some planets enter a sign two or three times
Every planet appears to move backwards for a stretch of each year, because Earth overtakes it on the inside track. When that reversal happens close to a sign boundary, a planet can cross the line more than once: it may pass into the next sign and later slip back, or slip back into the previous sign and later return direct. That is why the dates below sometimes list several crossings for a single placement. Mercury does the same thing far more often, and its dates are on the Mercury retrograde page.
Mercury retrograde datesFrequently asked questions
What is an outer planet?
The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, the five planets of an astrological chart that move slowly enough to stay in one sign for a year or longer. Mars is sometimes called an outer planet in astronomy, but astrologers group it with the personal planets.
Why do these planets enter a sign more than once?
Retrograde motion. A planet near a sign line can cross it, appear to reverse, and cross again, in either direction. The placement pages list every crossing with its date.
How are the dates calculated?
From the planet's computed longitude, found by bisecting to the minute when it crosses a sign boundary. Dates are in UTC and are checked against published ingress dates in the test suite; they agree to within about a day. A date the model cannot pin to the day is marked around, and in some time zones the local date differs by one.
Does a transit change my chart?
No. A transit describes the sky, not you. Astrologers compare it with a birth chart to see which house it moves through and which natal planets it touches, and the traditional readings are tendencies for reflection, not forecasts.
Keep going
Planets in signs · The 12 astrological houses · Astrology aspects · Planet symbols · Birth chart calculator · Saturn return · Ask an astrologer to read your chart