Mars retrograde 1998

No retrograde period falls inside 1998. That is not an omission — the loop lands either side of the year boundary.

Why a year can have none

A retrograde recurs every 779.94 days — the synodic period of Mars. Because that does not divide evenly into 365.25 days, the loops drift through the calendar. For the slower planets a single loop can start in one year and finish in the next, leaving a calendar year with nothing inside it.

Check 1997 and 1999 — the period you are looking for will be in one of them.

Computed from the actual motion

The nearest Mars retrogrades either side of 1998

Previous

1997 Ended 27 April 1997 after 81 days, moving back 19.19° through the zodiac.

Next

1999 Begins 18 March 1999 and runs 78 days.

Gap across 1998

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.

1998 at a glance

Every other retrograde in 1998

Venus in Aquarius 26 Dec 1997 – 5 Feb 1998 · 41 days
Pluto in Sagittarius 11 Mar 1998 – 16 Aug 1998 · 158 days
Mercury in Aries 27 Mar 1998 – 20 Apr 1998 · 24 days
Neptune in Aquarius 4 May 1998 – 11 Oct 1998 · 160 days
Uranus in Aquarius 17 May 1998 – 18 Oct 1998 · 154 days
Jupiter in Pisces 18 Jul 1998 – 13 Nov 1998 · 118 days
Mercury in Leo 31 Jul 1998 – 23 Aug 1998 · 24 days
Saturn in Taurus 15 Aug 1998 – 29 Dec 1998 · 136 days
Mercury in Sagittarius 21 Nov 1998 – 11 Dec 1998 · 20 days
← 1997 Mars retrograde in 1997. All Mars retrogrades Averages, shadow periods and the sign distribution over fifty years. 1999 → Mars retrograde in 1999.