Mars retrograde 2002

No retrograde period falls inside 2002. 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 2001 and 2003 — the period you are looking for will be in one of them.

Computed from the actual motion

The nearest Mars retrogrades either side of 2002

Previous

2001 Ended 19 July 2001 after 69 days, moving back 13.95° through the zodiac.

Next

2003 Begins 29 July 2003 and runs 60 days.

Gap across 2002

2 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.

2002 at a glance

Every other retrograde in 2002

Jupiter in Cancer 22 Nov 2001 – 1 Mar 2002 · 100 days
Saturn in Gemini 22 Nov 2001 – 7 Feb 2002 · 78 days
Mercury in Aquarius 18 Jan 2002 – 8 Feb 2002 · 21 days
Pluto in Sagittarius 20 Mar 2002 – 26 Aug 2002 · 159 days
Neptune in Aquarius 13 May 2002 – 20 Oct 2002 · 160 days
Mercury in Gemini 15 May 2002 – 8 Jun 2002 · 24 days
Uranus in Aquarius 2 Jun 2002 – 4 Nov 2002 · 154 days
Mercury in Libra 14 Sep 2002 – 6 Oct 2002 · 22 days
Venus in Scorpio 10 Oct 2002 – 21 Nov 2002 · 42 days
Saturn in Gemini 11 Oct 2002 – 9 Feb 2003 · 122 days
Jupiter in Leo 4 Dec 2002 – 9 Feb 2003 · 68 days
← 2001 Mars retrograde in 2001. All Mars retrogrades Averages, shadow periods and the sign distribution over fifty years. 2003 → Mars retrograde in 2003.