What to do
- Look honestly at patterns you keep repeating
- Let go of situations that drain your power
- Work through old issues with support
Pluto retrograde: now and in 2026
Pluto is not retrograde right now — it is direct in Aquarius and turns retrograde on May 8, 2027. Pluto retrograde covers 162 days of 2026, 44.5% of the year. It turns back once every 366.73 days, which is why the count drifts from one year to the next.
- Right now
- Direct since Oct 16, 2026
- Turns retrograde
- May 8 2027, 12:56 PM UTC
- Retrograde in 2026
- 162 days 44.5% of the year
- On average
- 44.5% of days, 2016–2036
Exact times
Next Pluto stations: exact times in your city
Pluto turns retrograde at 12:56 PM UTC on May 8, 2027 at 7°10′ Aquarius — 8:56 AM in Santiago, 8:56 AM in New York, 1:56 PM in London and 9:56 PM in Tokyo.
| City | Turns retrograde · May 8, 2027 | Turns direct · Oct 18, 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| UTC | Sat, May 8, 2027 · 7°10′ Aquarius | Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · 4°44′ Aquarius |
| Honolulu United States | 2:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−10 | 5:50 PM Sun, Oct 17, 2027 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 4:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−8 | 7:50 PM Sun, Oct 17, 2027 · UTC−8 |
| Los Angeles United States | 5:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−7 | 8:50 PM Sun, Oct 17, 2027 · UTC−7 |
| Phoenix United States | 5:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−7 | 8:50 PM Sun, Oct 17, 2027 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 6:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−6 | 9:50 PM Sun, Oct 17, 2027 · UTC−6 |
| Chicago United States | 7:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−5 | 10:50 PM Sun, Oct 17, 2027 · UTC−5 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 6:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−6 | 9:50 PM Sun, Oct 17, 2027 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 8:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−4 | 11:50 PM Sun, Oct 17, 2027 · UTC−4 |
| Toronto Canada | 8:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−4 | 11:50 PM Sun, Oct 17, 2027 · UTC−4 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 7:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−5 | 10:50 PM Sun, Oct 17, 2027 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 7:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−5 | 10:50 PM Sun, Oct 17, 2027 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 8:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−4 | 11:50 PM Sun, Oct 17, 2027 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 8:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−4 | 12:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC−3 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 9:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−3 | 12:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 9:56 AM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC−3 | 12:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 12:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC | 3:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 1:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+1 | 4:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+1 |
| Lagos Nigeria | 1:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+1 | 4:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 2:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+2 | 5:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+2 |
| Berlin Germany | 2:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+2 | 5:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+2 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 2:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+2 | 5:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 3:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+3 | 6:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+3 |
| Athens Greece | 3:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+3 | 6:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+3 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 3:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+3 | 6:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+3 |
| Moscow Russia | 3:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+3 | 6:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 3:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+3 | 6:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 4:26 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+3:30 | 7:20 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 4:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+4 | 7:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 5:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+5 | 8:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 6:26 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+5:30 | 9:20 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 6:41 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+5:45 | 9:35 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 6:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+6 | 9:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 7:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+7 | 10:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 7:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+7 | 10:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 8:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+8 | 11:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 8:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+8 | 11:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 8:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+8 | 11:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 8:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+8 | 11:50 AM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 9:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+9 | 12:50 PM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 9:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+9 | 12:50 PM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 10:26 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+9:30 | 2:20 PM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+10:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 10:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+10 | 1:50 PM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 10:56 PM Sat, May 8, 2027 · UTC+10 | 2:50 PM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+11 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 12:56 AM Sun, May 9, 2027 · UTC+12 | 4:50 PM Mon, Oct 18, 2027 · UTC+13 |
Stations from the NASA JPL DE440 ephemeris. Swiss Ephemeris agrees on every Pluto station 1900–2050: median 1.1 minutes, largest 16.1 minutes. Near a station Pluto barely moves, so almanacs differ by minutes. Local times: IANA time zones, to the minute.
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.
Is Pluto retrograde right now?
Right now · November 1, 2026
No — direct
♇ Aquarius 3.14°
Moving forward 0.008° per day. Next retrograde begins May 8, 2027.
The traditional reading
What does Pluto retrograde mean?
Pluto rules power, transformation and what lies beneath the surface. It is retrograde for about five months a year. Tradition reads the period as deep inner work: buried issues surface, power dynamics become visible and old patterns can finally be let go of. It is slow, and most of what it describes happens quietly rather than dramatically.
What to avoid
- Power struggles and attempts to control others
- Burying issues again once they surface
- Forcing transformation before you are ready
What the other pages do not tell you
The part that is measurable
44.5%
of all days in 2016–2036,
162.4 a year on average — about one day in 2.
365 days
of 2026 with the shadows counted, against 162 of
retrograde proper — 100% of the year.
161–164
days in the lightest and heaviest year of 2016–2036.
Pluto is retrograde 162 days in 2026 — 24 of the 101 years from 1950 to 2050 have more. The most is 165 days, in 2049 and 2050; the fewest is 154, in 1969.
2026 in detail
Pluto's stations in 2026, in UTC, with the degree inside the sign.
Period 1 of 1 · 162 days · retreats 2.44°
May 6 → October 16, 2026
Stations retrograde
May 6, 2026, 3:34 PM UTC ·
Aquarius 5.51°
Stations direct
Oct 16, 2026, 2:39 AM UTC ·
Aquarius 3.07°
Pre-retrograde shadow opens
Jan 12, 2026 · 114 days early
Post-retrograde shadow closes
Feb 7, 2027 · 114 days after
Full affected window
391 days
Falls in Aquarius, which traditionally colors it toward independence, principle and distance from the herd
Which signs it happens in
51 retrograde periods of Pluto between 2000 and 2050, grouped by the sign the station falls in. They fall in only 4 signs — Pluto spends years in each sign, so half a century of retrogrades covers just a few of them.
Answered from the ephemeris, 1950–2050
Pluto retrograde in numbers
How often is Pluto retrograde?
Once a year, give or take: every 367.3 days on average, so each loop starts about 2 days later in the calendar than the one before. That makes 100 loops between 1950 and 2050.
How long does Pluto retrograde last?
159.7 days on average, from 156.1 to 164.6 days in 1950–2050. The longest of them began on June 8, 2049. Counting both shadows, the whole window averages 384.4 days — longer than the 367.3 days between loops, so Pluto is never clear of a shadow.
When is the next Pluto retrograde?
The next Pluto retrograde starts on May 8, 2027 at 12:56 PM UTC, at 7°10′ Aquarius, and ends on October 18, 2027 — 163 days.
When is Pluto retrograde in 2027?
Once: May 8 to October 18 in Aquarius.
Why Pluto turns back
Pluto orbits outside Earth's path, so it appears to reverse around opposition — the weeks when Earth overtakes it on the inside track. Earth and Pluto line up again every 366.73 days, and across 2016–2036 a single retrograde lasted 162 days on average. Not one of those 21 years went without one.
Pluto retrograde on 44.5% of days, 2016–2036
Tradition ties Pluto to power, compulsion and what will not be negotiated with, and reads its retrograde as the time to go back over them. In practice that advice applies on about one day in two. The shadow dates in the table are explained on the retrograde overview.
Sources
- Park, Folkner, Williams & Boggs, “The JPL Planetary and Lunar Ephemerides DE440 and DE441”, The Astronomical Journal 161:105 (2021)
- Astrodienst, Swiss Ephemeris
Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Is Pluto Retrograde Right Now? Pluto Retrograde 2026 Dates.” Accessed November 1, 2026. https://astrohot.com/retrograde/pluto/
For Wikipedia
{{cite web |title=Is Pluto Retrograde Right Now? Pluto Retrograde 2026 Dates |url=https://astrohot.com/retrograde/pluto/ |website=AstroHot |access-date=2026-11-01}}