What a solar return chart shows
Each year the Sun returns to the exact degree it held at your birth. A chart cast for that moment, the solar return chart, is one of the oldest forecasting tools in Western astrology. Astrologers read it as a snapshot of the year from one birthday to the next: the rising sign of the return chart sets the tone, the house the Sun falls in shows where your attention goes, and the Moon’s house shows where feelings and changing needs come up.
How it is calculated
The calculator finds the moment the Sun’s apparent longitude matches its value at your birth, to within a minute, using the same planetary positions as our birth chart calculator. Those are checked against the Swiss Ephemeris; for the Sun the difference is under 5 arcseconds, about two minutes of time at most. The chart uses Placidus houses for the place you enter.
Questions
What is a solar return?
Your solar return is the moment each year when the Sun comes back to the exact degree it held when you were born. It happens on or within a day of your birthday. Astrologers cast a chart for that moment and read it for the year until your next birthday.
Why does the location matter?
The planets are in the same signs wherever you are, but the Ascendant and the houses depend on the place. Most astrologers cast the solar return for where you actually are at the moment of the return, which is why some people travel for their birthday. Leave the field empty to use your birth place.
Why is my solar return not exactly on my birthday?
A calendar year is not exactly as long as the Sun’s cycle, and leap years shift the calendar by a day, so the return can fall the day before or after your birthday, at a different time each year.
Do I need my birth time?
Yes, for the chart. Without it the date of the return is still right to within about a day, but the Ascendant and houses of the return chart cannot be worked out.