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Mars retrograde 1996

There was no Mars retrograde in 1996: the planet stayed direct all year — the previous retrograde ended on March 24, 1995 in Leo, and the next began on February 6, 1997 in Libra.

Retrograde in 1996
None direct all year
Previous direct station
Mar 24, 1995 5:18 PM UTC
Next retrograde station
Feb 6, 1997 12:37 AM UTC
Gap between loops
684 days
Mars Retrograde 1996: None — Next Starts Feb 6, 1997

Mars’s path through 1996, day by day

Apparent position of Mars against the zodiac, 1996
Apparent position of Mars against the zodiac, 1996. Mars starts 1996 at 24°10′ Capricorn and ends it at 29°14′ Virgo — 245.1° of net progress, all of it forward. The shaded stretch from Dec 1 is the pre-retrograde shadow: Mars is already crossing the degrees it will walk back over after turning on Feb 6, 1997. Fastest day: Feb 9, 0.8° forward. Counting the shadows, 30 days of 1996 sit inside a retrograde window. Pre-retrograde shadow: Dec 1, 1996 – Feb 6, 1997CapricornAquariusPiscesAriesTaurusGeminiCancerLeoVirgoJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSource: NASA JPL DE440 ephemerisastrohot.com Apparent position of Mars against the zodiac, 1996. Mars starts 1996 at 24°10′ Capricorn and ends it at 29°14′ Virgo — 245.1° of net progress, all of it forward. The shaded stretch from Dec 1 is the pre-retrograde shadow: Mars is already crossing the degrees it will walk back over after turning on Feb 6, 1997. Fastest day: Feb 9, 0.8° forward. Counting the shadows, 30 days of 1996 sit inside a retrograde window. Pre-retrograde shadow: Dec 1, 1996 – Feb 6, 1997CapricornAquariusPiscesAriesTaurusGeminiCancerLeoVirgoJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSource: NASA JPL DE440 ephemerisastrohot.com
Retrograde Shadow R — stations retrograde · D — stations direct

Mars starts 1996 at 24°10′ Capricorn and ends it at 29°14′ Virgo — 245.1° of net progress, all of it forward. The shaded stretch from Dec 1 is the pre-retrograde shadow: Mars is already crossing the degrees it will walk back over after turning on Feb 6, 1997. Fastest day: Feb 9, 0.8° forward. Counting the shadows, 30 days of 1996 sit inside a retrograde window.

Exact times

The Mars stations either side of 1996: exact times in your city

Mars turned retrograde at 12:37 AM UTC on February 6, 1997 at 5°55′ Libra — 9:37 PM on February 5 in Santiago, 7:37 PM on February 5 in New York, 12:37 AM in London and 9:37 AM in Tokyo.

City Turns direct · Mar 24, 1995 Turns retrograde · Feb 6, 1997
UTC Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · 13°10′ Leo Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · 5°55′ Libra
Honolulu United States 7:18 AM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−10 2:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−10
Anchorage United States 8:18 AM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−9 3:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−9
Los Angeles United States 9:18 AM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−8 4:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−8
Phoenix United States 10:18 AM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−7 5:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−7
Denver United States 10:18 AM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−7 5:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−7
Chicago United States 11:18 AM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−6 6:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−6
Mexico City Mexico 11:18 AM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−6 6:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−6
New York United States 12:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−5 7:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−5
Toronto Canada 12:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−5 7:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−5
Bogotá Colombia 12:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−5 7:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−5
Lima Peru 12:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−5 7:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−5
Caracas Venezuela 1:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−4 8:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−4
Santiago Chile 1:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−4 9:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−3
Buenos Aires Argentina 2:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−3 9:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−3
São Paulo Brazil 2:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC−3 10:37 PM Wed, Feb 5, 1997 · UTC−2
Reykjavík Iceland 5:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC 12:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC
London United Kingdom 5:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC 12:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC
Lagos Nigeria 6:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+1 1:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+1
Paris France 6:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+1 1:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+1
Berlin Germany 6:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+1 1:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+1
Johannesburg South Africa 7:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+2 2:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+2
Cairo Egypt 7:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+2 2:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+2
Athens Greece 7:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+2 2:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+2
Istanbul Turkey 7:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+2 2:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+2
Moscow Russia 8:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+3 3:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+3
Nairobi Kenya 8:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+3 3:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+3
Tehran Iran 9:48 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+4:30 4:07 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+3:30
Dubai United Arab Emirates 9:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+4 4:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+4
Karachi Pakistan 10:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+5 5:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+5
New Delhi India 10:48 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+5:30 6:07 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+5:30
Kathmandu Nepal 11:03 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+5:45 6:22 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+5:45
Dhaka Bangladesh 11:18 PM Fri, Mar 24, 1995 · UTC+6 6:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+6
Bangkok Thailand 12:18 AM Sat, Mar 25, 1995 · UTC+7 7:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+7
Jakarta Indonesia 12:18 AM Sat, Mar 25, 1995 · UTC+7 7:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+7
Singapore 1:18 AM Sat, Mar 25, 1995 · UTC+8 8:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+8
Beijing China 1:18 AM Sat, Mar 25, 1995 · UTC+8 8:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+8
Manila Philippines 1:18 AM Sat, Mar 25, 1995 · UTC+8 8:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+8
Perth Australia 1:18 AM Sat, Mar 25, 1995 · UTC+8 8:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+8
Seoul South Korea 2:18 AM Sat, Mar 25, 1995 · UTC+9 9:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+9
Tokyo Japan 2:18 AM Sat, Mar 25, 1995 · UTC+9 9:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+9
Adelaide Australia 3:48 AM Sat, Mar 25, 1995 · UTC+10:30 11:07 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+10:30
Brisbane Australia 3:18 AM Sat, Mar 25, 1995 · UTC+10 10:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+10
Sydney Australia 3:18 AM Sat, Mar 25, 1995 · UTC+10 11:37 AM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · UTC+11
Auckland New Zealand 5:18 AM Sat, Mar 25, 1995 · UTC+12 1:37 PM Thu, Feb 6, 1997 · 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 1996: a year between two loops

684 days separate the end of one Mars retrograde from the start of the next, and 1996 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 1, the day Mars first reaches the degree it will later retreat to.

The loops themselves are on the 1995 and 1997 pages.

Computed from the actual motion

The nearest Mars retrogrades either side of 1996

Previous

1995 Ended March 24, 1995 after 81 days, moving back 19.5° through the zodiac.

Next

1997 Begins February 6, 1997 and runs 81 days.

Gap across 1996

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 1996

Mars through the zodiac in 1996

Every sign Mars occupies during 1996, 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 8
Mars in Aquarius Jan 8 – Feb 15
Mars in Pisces Feb 15 – Mar 24
Mars in Aries Mar 24 – May 2
Mars in Taurus May 2 – Jun 12
Mars in Gemini Jun 12 – Jul 25
Mars in Cancer Jul 25 – Sep 9
Mars in Leo Sep 9 – Oct 30
Mars in Virgo Oct 30 – Dec 31 and beyond

9 segments in 1996. Dates from NASA JPL’s DE440 ephemeris.

1996 at a glance

Every other retrograde in 1996

Mercury in Aquarius Jan 9, 1996 – Jan 30, 1996 · 21 days
Pluto in Sagittarius Mar 5, 1996 – Aug 10, 1996 · 158 days
Neptune in Capricorn Apr 29, 1996 – Oct 6, 1996 · 160 days
Mercury in Taurus May 3, 1996 – May 27, 1996 · 24 days
Jupiter in Capricorn May 4, 1996 – Sep 3, 1996 · 122 days
Uranus in Aquarius May 8, 1996 – Oct 10, 1996 · 154 days
Venus in Gemini May 20, 1996 – Jul 2, 1996 · 43 days
Saturn in Aries Jul 18, 1996 – Dec 3, 1996 · 138 days
Mercury in Libra Sep 4, 1996 – Sep 26, 1996 · 22 days
Mercury in Capricorn Dec 23, 1996 – Jan 12, 1997 · 20 days
← 1995 Mars retrograde in 1995. All Mars retrogrades Averages, shadow periods and the sign distribution over fifty years. 1997 → Mars retrograde in 1997.

Cite this page

AstroHot. “Mars Retrograde 1996: None — Next Starts Feb 6, 1997.” Accessed October 31, 2026. https://astrohot.com/retrograde/mars/1996/

For Wikipedia {{cite web |title=Mars Retrograde 1996: None — Next Starts Feb 6, 1997 |url=https://astrohot.com/retrograde/mars/1996/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-10-31}}