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Mars retrograde 1979

There was no Mars retrograde in 1979: the planet stayed direct all year — the previous retrograde ended on March 2, 1978 in Cancer, and the next began on January 16, 1980 in Virgo.

Retrograde in 1979
None direct all year
Previous direct station
Mar 2, 1978 9:56 AM UTC
Next retrograde station
Jan 16, 1980 6:18 AM UTC
Gap between loops
685 days
Mars Retrograde 1979: None — Next Starts Jan 16, 1980

Mars’s path through 1979, day by day

Apparent position of Mars against the zodiac, 1979
Apparent position of Mars against the zodiac, 1979. Mars starts 1979 at 14°24′ Capricorn and ends it at 13°41′ Virgo — 239.3° of net progress, all of it forward. The shaded stretch from Nov 11 is the pre-retrograde shadow: Mars is already crossing the degrees it will walk back over after turning on Jan 16, 1980. Fastest day: Feb 23, 0.79° forward. Counting the shadows, 51 days of 1979 sit inside a retrograde window. Pre-retrograde shadow: Nov 11, 1979 – Jan 16, 1980CapricornAquariusPiscesAriesTaurusGeminiCancerLeoVirgoJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSource: JPL orbital elements; stations NASA JPL DE440astrohot.com Apparent position of Mars against the zodiac, 1979. Mars starts 1979 at 14°24′ Capricorn and ends it at 13°41′ Virgo — 239.3° of net progress, all of it forward. The shaded stretch from Nov 11 is the pre-retrograde shadow: Mars is already crossing the degrees it will walk back over after turning on Jan 16, 1980. Fastest day: Feb 23, 0.79° forward. Counting the shadows, 51 days of 1979 sit inside a retrograde window. Pre-retrograde shadow: Nov 11, 1979 – Jan 16, 1980CapricornAquariusPiscesAriesTaurusGeminiCancerLeoVirgoJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSource: JPL orbital elements; stations NASA JPL DE440astrohot.com
Retrograde Shadow R — stations retrograde · D — stations direct

Mars starts 1979 at 14°24′ Capricorn and ends it at 13°41′ Virgo — 239.3° of net progress, all of it forward. The shaded stretch from Nov 11 is the pre-retrograde shadow: Mars is already crossing the degrees it will walk back over after turning on Jan 16, 1980. Fastest day: Feb 23, 0.79° forward. Counting the shadows, 51 days of 1979 sit inside a retrograde window.

Exact times

The Mars stations either side of 1979: exact times in your city

Mars turned retrograde at 6:18 AM UTC on January 16, 1980 at 15°21′ Virgo — 3:18 AM in Santiago, 1:18 AM in New York, 6:18 AM in London and 3:18 PM in Tokyo.

City Turns direct · Mar 2, 1978 Turns retrograde · Jan 16, 1980
UTC Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · 22°16′ Cancer Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · 15°21′ Virgo
Honolulu United States 11:56 PM Wed, Mar 1, 1978 · UTC−10 8:18 PM Tue, Jan 15, 1980 · UTC−10
Anchorage United States 11:56 PM Wed, Mar 1, 1978 · UTC−10 8:18 PM Tue, Jan 15, 1980 · UTC−10
Los Angeles United States 1:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−8 10:18 PM Tue, Jan 15, 1980 · UTC−8
Phoenix United States 2:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−7 11:18 PM Tue, Jan 15, 1980 · UTC−7
Denver United States 2:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−7 11:18 PM Tue, Jan 15, 1980 · UTC−7
Chicago United States 3:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−6 12:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC−6
Mexico City Mexico 3:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−6 12:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC−6
New York United States 4:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−5 1:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC−5
Toronto Canada 4:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−5 1:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC−5
Bogotá Colombia 4:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−5 1:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC−5
Lima Peru 4:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−5 1:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC−5
Caracas Venezuela 5:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−4 2:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC−4
Santiago Chile 6:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−3 3:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC−3
Buenos Aires Argentina 6:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−3 3:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC−3
São Paulo Brazil 6:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC−3 3:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC−3
Reykjavík Iceland 9:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC 6:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC
London United Kingdom 9:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC 6:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC
Lagos Nigeria 10:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+1 7:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+1
Paris France 10:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+1 7:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+1
Berlin Germany 10:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+1 7:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+1
Johannesburg South Africa 11:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+2 8:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+2
Cairo Egypt 11:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+2 8:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+2
Athens Greece 11:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+2 8:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+2
Istanbul Turkey 11:56 AM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+2 9:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+3
Moscow Russia 12:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+3 9:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+3
Nairobi Kenya 12:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+3 9:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+3
Tehran Iran 1:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+4 9:48 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+3:30
Dubai United Arab Emirates 1:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+4 10:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+4
Karachi Pakistan 2:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+5 11:18 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+5
New Delhi India 3:26 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+5:30 11:48 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+5:30
Kathmandu Nepal 3:26 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+5:30 11:48 AM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+5:30
Dhaka Bangladesh 3:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+6 12:18 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+6
Bangkok Thailand 4:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+7 1:18 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+7
Jakarta Indonesia 4:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+7 1:18 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+7
Singapore 5:26 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+7:30 1:48 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+7:30
Beijing China 5:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+8 2:18 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+8
Manila Philippines 5:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+8 2:18 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+8
Perth Australia 5:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+8 2:18 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+8
Seoul South Korea 6:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+9 3:18 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+9
Tokyo Japan 6:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+9 3:18 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+9
Adelaide Australia 8:26 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+10:30 4:48 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+10:30
Brisbane Australia 7:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+10 4:18 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+10
Sydney Australia 8:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+11 5:18 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+11
Auckland New Zealand 10:56 PM Thu, Mar 2, 1978 · UTC+13 7:18 PM Wed, Jan 16, 1980 · UTC+13

Stations from the NASA JPL DE440 ephemeris. Swiss Ephemeris agrees on every Mars station 1900–2050: all within a minute. Local times: IANA time zones, to the minute.

Mars in 1979: a year between two loops

685 days separate the end of one Mars retrograde from the start of the next, and 1979 falls entirely inside that stretch. Mars turns back once every 779.94 days — longer than a calendar year — and each loop is over in weeks, so now and then a whole year passes between two of them.

The run-up to the next loop starts before the year is out: the pre-retrograde shadow opens on November 11, the day Mars first reaches the degree it will later retreat to.

The loops themselves are on the 1978 and 1980 pages.

Computed from the actual motion

The nearest Mars retrogrades either side of 1979

Previous

1978 Ended March 2, 1978 after 80 days, moving back 19.29° through the zodiac.

Next

1980 Begins January 16, 1980 and runs 81 days.

Gap across 1979

1.9 years between the two — long enough for a whole calendar year to fall inside it with nothing to report.

Both dates are computed from the planet’s apparent motion, not taken from a table. A retrograde begins the moment its daily movement against the stars turns negative, and that moment is findable to the hour.

Computed for 1979

Mars through the zodiac in 1979

Every sign Mars occupies during 1979, with the dates it enters and leaves. A sign that appears twice means the planet backed into the previous sign during a retrograde and crossed again.

Mars in Capricorn From Jan 1 – Jan 20
Mars in Aquarius Jan 20 – Feb 27
Mars in Pisces Feb 27 – Apr 7
Mars in Aries Apr 7 – May 16
Mars in Taurus May 16 – Jun 26
Mars in Gemini Jun 26 – Aug 8
Mars in Cancer Aug 8 – Sep 24
Mars in Leo Sep 24 – Nov 19
Mars in Virgo Nov 19 – Dec 31 and beyond

9 segments in 1979. Dates from NASA JPL’s DE440 ephemeris.

1979 at a glance

Every other retrograde in 1979

Jupiter in Leo Nov 25, 1978 – Mar 26, 1979 · 120 days
Saturn in Virgo Dec 24, 1978 – May 9, 1979 · 136 days
Pluto in Libra Jan 21, 1979 – Jun 27, 1979 · 156 days
Uranus in Scorpio Feb 24, 1979 – Jul 26, 1979 · 152 days
Mercury in Aries Mar 15, 1979 – Apr 7, 1979 · 23 days
Neptune in Sagittarius Mar 23, 1979 – Aug 30, 1979 · 160 days
Mercury in Leo Jul 17, 1979 – Aug 11, 1979 · 24 days
Mercury in Sagittarius Nov 9, 1979 – Nov 29, 1979 · 20 days
Jupiter in Virgo Dec 26, 1979 – Apr 26, 1980 · 122 days
← 1978 Mars retrograde in 1978. All Mars retrogrades Averages, shadow periods and the sign distribution over fifty years. 1980 → Mars retrograde in 1980.

Cite this page

AstroHot. “Mars Retrograde 1979: None — Next Starts Jan 16, 1980.” Accessed October 31, 2026. https://astrohot.com/retrograde/mars/1979/

For Wikipedia {{cite web |title=Mars Retrograde 1979: None — Next Starts Jan 16, 1980 |url=https://astrohot.com/retrograde/mars/1979/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-31}}