Mars retrograde 1981
There was no Mars retrograde in 1981: the planet stayed direct all year — the previous retrograde ended on April 6, 1980 in Leo, and the next began on February 20, 1982 in Libra.
- Retrograde in 1981
- None direct all year
- Previous direct station
- Apr 6, 1980 8:27 AM UTC
- Next retrograde station
- Feb 20, 1982 7:13 PM UTC
- Gap between loops
- 685 days
Mars’s path through 1981, day by day
Mars starts 1981 at 0°34′ Aquarius and ends it at 6°48′ Libra — 246.2° of net progress, all of it forward. The shaded stretch from Dec 16 is the pre-retrograde shadow: Mars is already crossing the degrees it will walk back over after turning on Feb 20, 1982. Fastest day: Feb 2, 0.79° forward. Counting the shadows, 15 days of 1981 sit inside a retrograde window.
18 pages · printable
The 2027 Sky Calendar — free PDF
Every retrograde, eclipse, new and full moon of 2027 to the minute, already converted to your city. A month to a page, ready to print.
Exact times
The Mars stations either side of 1981: exact times in your city
Mars turned retrograde at 7:13 PM UTC on February 20, 1982 at 19°10′ Libra — 4:13 PM in Santiago, 2:13 PM in New York, 7:13 PM in London and 4:13 AM on February 21 in Tokyo.
| City | Turns direct · Apr 6, 1980 | Turns retrograde · Feb 20, 1982 |
|---|---|---|
| UTC | Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · 25°52′ Leo | Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · 19°10′ Libra |
| Honolulu United States | 10:27 PM Sat, Apr 5, 1980 · UTC−10 | 9:13 AM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 10:27 PM Sat, Apr 5, 1980 · UTC−10 | 9:13 AM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−10 |
| Los Angeles United States | 12:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−8 | 11:13 AM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−8 |
| Phoenix United States | 1:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−7 | 12:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 1:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−7 | 12:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−7 |
| Chicago United States | 2:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−6 | 1:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−6 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 2:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−6 | 1:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 3:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−5 | 2:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−5 |
| Toronto Canada | 3:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−5 | 2:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−5 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 3:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−5 | 2:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 3:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−5 | 2:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 4:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−4 | 3:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 4:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−4 | 4:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 5:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−3 | 4:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 5:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC−3 | 4:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 8:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC | 7:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 9:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+1 | 7:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC |
| Lagos Nigeria | 9:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+1 | 8:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 10:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+2 | 8:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC+1 |
| Berlin Germany | 10:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+2 | 8:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC+1 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 10:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+2 | 9:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 10:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+2 | 9:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC+2 |
| Athens Greece | 11:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+3 | 9:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC+2 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 11:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+3 | 10:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC+3 |
| Moscow Russia | 11:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+3 | 10:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 11:27 AM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+3 | 10:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 12:57 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+4:30 | 10:43 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 12:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+4 | 11:13 PM Sat, Feb 20, 1982 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 1:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+5 | 12:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 1:57 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+5:30 | 12:43 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 1:57 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+5:30 | 12:43 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+5:30 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 2:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+6 | 1:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 3:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+7 | 2:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 3:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+7 | 2:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 3:57 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+7:30 | 3:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 4:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+8 | 3:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 4:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+8 | 3:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 4:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+8 | 3:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 5:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+9 | 4:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 5:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+9 | 4:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 5:57 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+9:30 | 5:43 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 6:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+10 | 5:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 6:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+10 | 6:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 8:27 PM Sun, Apr 6, 1980 · UTC+12 | 8:13 AM Sun, Feb 21, 1982 · 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 1981: a year between two loops
685 days separate the end of one Mars retrograde from the start of the next, and 1981 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 December 16, the day Mars first reaches the degree it will later retreat to.
Computed from the actual motion
The nearest Mars retrogrades either side of 1981
Gap across 1981
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 1981
Mars through the zodiac in 1981
Every sign Mars occupies during 1981, 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.
9 segments in 1981. Dates from NASA JPL’s DE440 ephemeris.
1981 at a glance
Every other retrograde in 1981
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Mars Retrograde 1981: None — Next Starts Feb 20, 1982.” Accessed October 31, 2026. https://astrohot.com/retrograde/mars/1981/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Mars Retrograde 1981: None — Next Starts Feb 20, 1982 |url=https://astrohot.com/retrograde/mars/1981/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-31}}