North Node Calculator

How does the North Node calculator work?

The calculator looks up your birth date in a table of every moment the true North Node changed sign from 1920 to 2031. The node stays in each sign for about 18 months, so the date alone fixes it. The South Node is always the opposite sign. With a rising sign, it counts the houses in whole signs.

The table is computed from the Moon's osculating orbit, which is how the Swiss Ephemeris defines the true node, using the open-source Astronomy Engine library. Checked against Cafe Astrology's published true node tables, the sign changes agree to within about an hour.

What house is my North Node in?

Your North Node's house is the sign of your North Node counted from your rising sign, in whole-sign houses. If your rising sign is Libra, Libra is your 1st house, Scorpio your 2nd, and a North Node in Aquarius falls in your 5th. The South Node is always six houses away, in the 11th.

Whole-sign houses are what the Hellenistic sources used. Many chart sites default to Placidus, a quadrant system, which can put the node in a different house, and that is usually why an app and this page disagree. Your rising sign changes about every two hours, so the house needs a birth time even when the sign does not.

Why does another site show a different North Node?

Two sites can disagree because one uses the true node and the other the mean node. The mean node is an average that moves steadily backwards. The true node is the Moon's actual crossing point at that moment, and it wobbles. The two sit up to about 2° apart, so near a sign change they can give different signs.

The current change shows it well. The true node entered Aquarius on July 26, 2026 (US time); the mean node followed on August 19, 2026. Someone born on August 1, 2026 has a true North Node in Aquarius and a mean North Node still in Pisces. The true node can even turn briefly: in May 1986 it slipped from Aries back into Taurus for three days.

This calculator uses the true node. If your app shows the mean node, your sign will only differ if you were born close to a change.

When was the North Node in each sign?

The North Node spends about 18.6 months in each sign and returns to the same sign every 18.6 years. That means each node sign belongs to a handful of birth windows per century. The table below lists them by sign, with the South Node opposite; the full list of exact change dates follows.

Dates are in UTC and leave out stays of a few days caused by the true node's wobble; those are in the full list below.

When exactly did the North Node change sign?

Each row is the moment the true North Node entered a new sign, in Universal Time (UTC), with the South Node entering the opposite sign at the same moment. Most times agree with the Swiss Ephemeris to within an hour; how they were tested. To compare with your birth, convert your birth time to UTC first.

Show all 82 sign changes

Date and time (UTC)	North Node enters	South Node enters
Feb 7, 1921, 13:02	♎︎ Libra	♈︎ Aries
Aug 22, 1922, 23:52	♍︎ Virgo	♓︎ Pisces
Aug 27, 1922, 12:46	♎︎ Libra	♈︎ Aries
Aug 31, 1922, 07:58	♍︎ Virgo	♓︎ Pisces
Apr 23, 1924, 00:40	♌︎ Leo	♒︎ Aquarius
Oct 26, 1925, 17:00	♋︎ Cancer	♑︎ Capricorn
Apr 16, 1927, 20:12	♊︎ Gemini	♐︎ Sagittarius
Dec 28, 1928, 10:51	♉︎ Taurus	♏︎ Scorpio
Jul 7, 1930, 16:30	♈︎ Aries	♎︎ Libra
Dec 28, 1931, 05:16	♓︎ Pisces	♍︎ Virgo
Jun 24, 1933, 15:57	♒︎ Aquarius	♌︎ Leo
Mar 8, 1935, 16:30	♑︎ Capricorn	♋︎ Cancer
Sep 14, 1936, 05:53	♐︎ Sagittarius	♊︎ Gemini
Mar 3, 1938, 22:21	♏︎ Scorpio	♉︎ Taurus
Sep 11, 1939, 22:17	♎︎ Libra	♈︎ Aries
May 24, 1941, 07:42	♍︎ Virgo	♓︎ Pisces
Nov 21, 1942, 06:14	♌︎ Leo	♒︎ Aquarius
May 11, 1944, 15:47	♋︎ Cancer	♑︎ Capricorn
Dec 2, 1945, 21:20	♊︎ Gemini	♐︎ Sagittarius
Jan 1, 1946, 08:14	♋︎ Cancer	♑︎ Capricorn
Jan 3, 1946, 14:19	♊︎ Gemini	♐︎ Sagittarius
Aug 2, 1947, 10:47	♉︎ Taurus	♏︎ Scorpio
Jan 25, 1949, 23:54	♈︎ Aries	♎︎ Libra
Jul 26, 1950, 20:56	♓︎ Pisces	♍︎ Virgo
Mar 28, 1952, 10:03	♒︎ Aquarius	♌︎ Leo
Oct 9, 1953, 03:46	♑︎ Capricorn	♋︎ Cancer
Apr 2, 1955, 21:33	♐︎ Sagittarius	♊︎ Gemini
Oct 4, 1956, 08:33	♏︎ Scorpio	♉︎ Taurus
Jun 16, 1958, 11:13	♎︎ Libra	♈︎ Aries
Dec 15, 1959, 17:22	♍︎ Virgo	♓︎ Pisces
Jun 10, 1961, 20:28	♌︎ Leo	♒︎ Aquarius
Dec 23, 1962, 04:52	♋︎ Cancer	♑︎ Capricorn
Aug 25, 1964, 10:56	♊︎ Gemini	♐︎ Sagittarius
Feb 19, 1966, 17:08	♉︎ Taurus	♏︎ Scorpio
Aug 19, 1967, 17:40	♈︎ Aries	♎︎ Libra
Apr 19, 1969, 07:08	♓︎ Pisces	♍︎ Virgo
Nov 2, 1970, 07:50	♒︎ Aquarius	♌︎ Leo
Apr 27, 1972, 07:31	♑︎ Capricorn	♋︎ Cancer
Oct 27, 1973, 00:56	♐︎ Sagittarius	♊︎ Gemini
Jul 10, 1975, 00:18	♏︎ Scorpio	♉︎ Taurus
Jan 7, 1977, 17:41	♎︎ Libra	♈︎ Aries
Jul 5, 1978, 10:39	♍︎ Virgo	♓︎ Pisces
Jan 5, 1980, 16:13	♌︎ Leo	♒︎ Aquarius
Jan 7, 1980, 00:48	♍︎ Virgo	♓︎ Pisces
Jan 12, 1980, 18:59	♌︎ Leo	♒︎ Aquarius
Sep 24, 1981, 09:02	♋︎ Cancer	♑︎ Capricorn
Mar 16, 1983, 02:23	♊︎ Gemini	♐︎ Sagittarius
Sep 11, 1984, 17:34	♉︎ Taurus	♏︎ Scorpio
Apr 6, 1986, 07:18	♈︎ Aries	♎︎ Libra
May 5, 1986, 19:40	♉︎ Taurus	♏︎ Scorpio
May 8, 1986, 19:57	♈︎ Aries	♎︎ Libra
Dec 2, 1987, 04:59	♓︎ Pisces	♍︎ Virgo
May 22, 1989, 11:28	♒︎ Aquarius	♌︎ Leo
Nov 18, 1990, 18:24	♑︎ Capricorn	♋︎ Cancer
Aug 1, 1992, 20:33	♐︎ Sagittarius	♊︎ Gemini
Feb 1, 1994, 07:04	♏︎ Scorpio	♉︎ Taurus
Jul 31, 1995, 11:25	♎︎ Libra	♈︎ Aries
Jan 25, 1997, 00:37	♍︎ Virgo	♓︎ Pisces
Oct 20, 1998, 06:07	♌︎ Leo	♒︎ Aquarius
Apr 9, 2000, 01:16	♋︎ Cancer	♑︎ Capricorn
Oct 13, 2001, 02:37	♊︎ Gemini	♐︎ Sagittarius
Apr 14, 2003, 00:22	♉︎ Taurus	♏︎ Scorpio
Dec 26, 2004, 07:41	♈︎ Aries	♎︎ Libra
Jun 22, 2006, 09:07	♓︎ Pisces	♍︎ Virgo
Dec 14, 2007, 21:43	♒︎ Aquarius	♌︎ Leo
Dec 16, 2007, 09:12	♓︎ Pisces	♍︎ Virgo
Dec 18, 2007, 04:43	♒︎ Aquarius	♌︎ Leo
Aug 21, 2009, 17:13	♑︎ Capricorn	♋︎ Cancer
Mar 3, 2011, 11:54	♐︎ Sagittarius	♊︎ Gemini
Aug 30, 2012, 02:55	♏︎ Scorpio	♉︎ Taurus
Feb 18, 2014, 14:26	♎︎ Libra	♈︎ Aries
Nov 12, 2015, 00:41	♍︎ Virgo	♓︎ Pisces
May 9, 2017, 18:16	♌︎ Leo	♒︎ Aquarius
Nov 6, 2018, 18:12	♋︎ Cancer	♑︎ Capricorn
May 5, 2020, 05:46	♊︎ Gemini	♐︎ Sagittarius
Jan 18, 2022, 18:32	♉︎ Taurus	♏︎ Scorpio
Jul 17, 2023, 19:52	♈︎ Aries	♎︎ Libra
Jan 11, 2025, 22:47	♓︎ Pisces	♍︎ Virgo
Jul 27, 2026, 00:05	♒︎ Aquarius	♌︎ Leo
Mar 26, 2028, 15:36	♑︎ Capricorn	♋︎ Cancer
Sep 23, 2029, 11:36	♐︎ Sagittarius	♊︎ Gemini
Mar 20, 2031, 23:01	♏︎ Scorpio	♉︎ Taurus

What did the old astrologers call the North Node?

They called it the Head of the Dragon, caput draconis, and the South Node the Tail, cauda draconis. In Greek the North Node was the anabibazōn, the ascending one, and the South Node the katabibazōn, the descending one, because the Moon climbs north of the Sun's path at one and sinks south at the other. William Lilly still gives both Greek names in Christian Astrology, and adds that the two "are not Planets but Nodes".

Where the dragon came from is less certain. The historian S. J. Tester thinks it most likely goes back to the dragon of Babylonian myth, and notes that the Head and Tail turn up later in Indian astrology and reach Europe through Arabic writers. The time the Moon takes to come back to the Head, about 27.2 days, is still called the draconitic month.

Did ancient astrologers use the nodes?

Yes, but not as most apps do now. In the Greek texts the nodes are the places where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's, where eclipses happen, and the astrologers watched them mainly for timing and for danger. They are not yet a second pair of planets with characters of their own; that came later.

Vettius Valens, writing in the second century, gives a quick way to find the ascending node and then says what to look for. If the benefics aspect it, "the nativity will be prosperous and effective", and even an ordinary chart will "rise to a high rank". Malefics there bring upsets and accusations (Anthology I.15, p. 13).

Valens also treats the nodes as bad places to begin anything. When the Moon passes the ascending node, or squares or opposes it, his advice is blunt: "do not sail, do not marry", start nothing, because what begins then turns out insecure and regretted (V.3, p. 96). Saturn on a node marks a critical year, and planets in the sign of the ascending node lose much of their effect (V.2, p. 96). Paulus Alexandrinus, writing around 378, counts the Sun or Moon reaching a node among the dangerous contacts when he times crises (Introductory Matters, ch. 34).

Dorotheus of Sidon uses them for buying and selling. The Head, he says, is rising and the Tail falling: when the Moon is in the rising half and "increasing in calculation", whatever you buy costs more than it is worth; in the falling half and decreasing, it costs less (Carmen Astrologicum V.44).

How did medieval astrologers read the Head and Tail?

As one good point and one bad one. By the time astrology came back to Europe in Arabic dress, Tester writes, the Head and Tail were treated almost as planets, with exaltations and periods of their own. The Arabic author Alcabitius calls the Head masculine and beneficent, of the nature of Jupiter and Venus, a sign of kingly power, fortune and wealth; some, he adds, said its nature is to increase, good with good and bad with bad. The Tail is its opposite.

Abu Ma'shar gave the nodes a place in the fardars, a calendar of planetary periods for a whole life: after seventy years of the seven planets come three years of the Head and two of the Tail, 75 years in all (On the Revolutions of the Years of Nativities IV.1). His translator Benjamin Dykes reads the nodes there as a sign that the method came from India, or from Persians who knew Indian astrology. Abu Ma'shar also follows the nodes through the houses year by year: the Head in the second brings money and property, the Tail in the same place decreases assets (VII.9).

William Lilly passes on what "the Ancients" said, that the Head is good with good planets and evil with evil ones and the Tail the reverse, and then gives his own experience. He "ever found the [Head] equivalent to either of the Fortunes", the two benefics, and saw it soften the malefics it joined. The Tail with a malefic left its harm "doubled and trebled"; with a benefic it brought delays and quarrels, and sometimes the matter came to nothing (Christian Astrology, Book 1, ch. XIIII).

He uses the Tail in his horary rules too: "in what House you can find Cauda Draconis, it prenotes detriment" to the things of that house, so in the 2nd an estate wasted by one's own neglect, in the 3rd trouble from relatives (Book 2, ch. XXVII). In his table of strengths a planet in exact conjunction with the Head gains four points (Book 1, ch. XIX).

What does the old reading add to your North Node?

A second layer. Lilly applies the Tail to the houses of a question, Abu Ma'shar to the houses of a year; carried over to a birth chart, the house of the Head is where life adds and gathers, and the house of the Tail where things drain away or have to be let go. That sits close to the modern reading of the South Node as something to release, though the old authors speak of gain and loss rather than of the soul's past.

That is my read, not a rule from one text. When I read the nodes in a chart, I look at both layers, with any planet close to the nodes and the rulers of their signs.

How was this calculator made and tested?

The calculator uses a table of every moment the true North Node changed sign from 1920 to 2031, 82 changes in all, computed from the Moon's osculating orbit with the open-source Astronomy Engine library. To test it I checked all 82 against the Swiss Ephemeris, the library behind much astrology software. At every listed moment the two place the node within half an arcminute of the sign's edge.

Because the true node sometimes stands almost still, half an arcminute can move the moment by hours: 61 of the 82 times agree within an hour, 76 within two hours, and the slowest few by up to nine hours. The Swiss Ephemeris also shows one short dip the table leaves out: on 20 to 21 September 1981, three days before the change listed above, the node dips about one arcsecond into Cancer for about eight hours, less than the two libraries differ. If you were born in those hours, treat your North Node as on the Leo/Cancer border.

The sign needs only your birth date, unless you were born within a day or two of a change. The house is counted in whole signs from the rising sign you choose. The lookup runs in your browser, and your birth date is not sent anywhere; the site keeps an anonymous count of visits and of which sign it showed, so I can see which tools are used.

Common questions

Do I need my birth time to find my North Node? Not for the sign, unless you were born within a couple of days of a change. You do need it for the house, because the rising sign changes about every two hours, and for the Lot of Spirit, which moves with the rising sign.

What if I was born on the day the node changed sign? Convert your birth time to UTC and compare it with the change time in the table. If the two are within an hour, the sign is genuinely borderline, and both signs are worth reading.

Is the South Node always opposite the North Node? Yes. It sits at the same degree of the opposite sign, exactly 180° away, so once you know one you know both.

What is my North Node if I was born in 2026? Pisces if you were born before July 26, 2026 (US time), and Aquarius from then until March 26, 2028. The South Node is in Virgo and then Leo.

Which planet rules my North Node? The traditional ruler of its sign: Mars for Aries and Scorpio, Venus for Taurus and Libra, Mercury for Gemini and Virgo, the Moon for Cancer, the Sun for Leo, Jupiter for Sagittarius and Pisces, Saturn for Capricorn and Aquarius. That planet's place in your chart shows how the node's work gets done.

What does my North Node mean? The sign shows the kind of growth asked of you and the house shows where in life it happens. The North Node and South Node guide covers both, and the older point the ancient astrologers read for vocation, the Lot of Spirit.

Is the North Node lucky and the South Node unlucky? That is close to how the medieval authors saw it: the Head took the nature of the benefics, Jupiter and Venus, and the Tail the opposite. Even they read it with what it touches. By the older rule the Head joined to a malefic could add to the harm, and Lilly found the Tail made a benefic's promise slow and quarrelsome.

Did the ancient astrologers use the North Node? Yes, mostly for timing. Valens read benefics aspecting the ascending node as a sign of rising in life, and warned against starting anything while the Moon crossed it. The nodes became planet-like points with their own natures later, in the Arabic and medieval tradition.

Sources

• Vettius Valens, Anthology I.15 (p. 13) and V.2 to V.3 (p. 96), tr. Mark Riley; chapters numbered as in Pingree's edition.
• Paulus Alexandrinus, Introductory Matters, ch. 34, pp. 71 to 73, tr. Robert Schmidt, ed. Robert Hand (Project Hindsight).
• Dorotheus of Sidon, Carmen Astrologicum V.44, p. 324, tr. Benjamin N. Dykes (2019).
• Abu Ma'shar, On the Revolutions of the Years of Nativities IV.1 and VII.9, with the introduction by Benjamin N. Dykes, tr. Dykes (2019).
• William Lilly, Christian Astrology, Book 1, ch. I, VI, XIIII and XIX; Book 2, ch. XXVII (1647; quoted from the 1659 second edition).
• S. J. Tester, A History of Western Astrology, pp. 121 to 122 and 162.
• Astrodienst, Swiss Ephemeris, true node, used for the test.
• Don Cross, Astronomy Engine, open-source astronomy library.