Natal chart
Where the planets were when you were born. Houses, Ascendant, and natal aspects stay put. It is the reference, not the clock.
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Transit chart vs natal chart
A natal chart is the sky at birth. A transit chart is that same chart with the current — or chosen — sky drawn around it.
Transit chart
Outer ring moving, inner ring natal. You read transit-to-natal aspects, orbs, and which house the transiting planet occupies.
They are read together
Your birth chart and transits are one figure, not two unrelated reports. Without the natal chart, current planetary transits are only the sky. Without transits, the birth chart has no date attached. How to read astrology transits is the order most astrologers use once both layers are on the wheel.
What you need for each
A natal chart needs date, time, and place. A transit chart needs that natal map plus a transit date. Unknown birth time still lets you calculate planetary transits to natal planets; it will not give a reliable Ascendant or houses. The angles between moving and fixed points are the major transit aspects— conjunction, opposition, square, trine, and sextile.
Use the transit chart calculator to overlay today, tomorrow, or a custom date on your natal chart.
Related
- Transit Chart Calculator — Overlay today’s sky on your birth chart — date, time, and place of birth.
- Current planetary transits — Today’s planetary positions and major aspects in the sky.
- Astrology transits guide — What transits are, and how they time themes in a natal chart.
- Major transit aspects — Conjunction, opposition, square, trine, and sextile — with orbs.