What is a moon sign?
Your moon sign is the zodiac sign the Moon was passing through when you were born. The Moon moves through a sign in about two and a half days, so your moon sign is often different from your sun sign. Astrologers link it with your feelings, instincts and what makes you feel at home. With your sun sign and rising sign it forms your “big three”.
No birth time? It usually still works
Tick I don’t know my birth time and the calculator checks where the Moon was at the start and end of your birthday in your birthplace. On most days – roughly four in five – the Moon stays in one sign all day, so you get one clear answer. If it changed sign that day, you’ll see both signs and the time it moved, so you can work out which applies.
Vedic moon sign: rashi and nakshatra
In Vedic (Indian) astrology the moon sign is called your rashi (janma rashi) and is the main sign used in horoscopes. Choose Vedic to see it, along with your nakshatra – one of 27 lunar mansions of 13°20′ each – and its pada (quarter), which are used for naming and matching. Vedic astrology measures the zodiac from the fixed stars (sidereal), about 24° behind the Western zodiac, so the Vedic moon sign is often one sign earlier. The calculator uses the Lahiri ayanamsa, the standard in India.
- Mesha – Aries
- Vrishabha – Taurus
- Mithuna – Gemini
- Karka – Cancer
- Simha – Leo
- Kanya – Virgo
- Tula – Libra
- Vrishchika – Scorpio
- Dhanu – Sagittarius
- Makara – Capricorn
- Kumbha – Aquarius
- Meena – Pisces
How it is worked out
Your birth time is turned into Universal Time with the time zone rules for your birthplace on that date, including daylight saving time. The Moon’s position comes from the standard astronomical series in Jean Meeus’s Astronomical Algorithms, which agrees with professional astronomy software to within about 0.05° – far finer than a sign (30°). The result also shows the Moon’s phase. Astrology itself is a tradition rather than a science, so enjoy your moon sign for fun. Birth places come from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my moon sign?
Enter your date, time and place of birth above. The calculator works out where the Moon was in the zodiac at that moment.
Can I find my moon sign without my birth time?
Usually, yes. Tick “I don’t know my birth time”: if the Moon stayed in one sign all day, you get one answer; if it changed sign, you see both and the time it moved.
What is my rashi?
Your rashi (janma rashi) is your Vedic moon sign. Choose Vedic in the calculator to see it with its English name, for example Simha (Leo).
What is a nakshatra?
One of 27 lunar mansions of 13°20′ each in Vedic astrology. The Moon’s nakshatra at birth – with its pada, or quarter – is used for naming and horoscope matching.
Why is my Vedic moon sign different from my Western one?
Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, about 24° behind the Western tropical zodiac, so the Moon often falls one sign earlier.
How often does the Moon change sign?
About every two and a half days – it goes round the whole zodiac in about 27.3 days.