What to do
- Review commitments and long-term responsibilities
- Fix the foundations of projects and routines
- Finish obligations you have been putting off
- Be honest about limits on time and energy
Saturn retrograde: now and in 2026
Saturn is retrograde right now, in Aries, and turns direct on December 10, 2026. Saturn retrograde covers 137 days of 2026, 37.6% of the year. It turns back once every 378.09 days, which is why the count drifts from one year to the next.
- Right now
- Retrograde since Jul 26, 2026
- Turns direct
- Dec 10 2026, 11:31 PM UTC
- Retrograde in 2026
- 137 days 37.6% of the year
- On average
- 36.1% of days, 2016–2036
Exact times
Next Saturn stations: exact times in your city
Saturn turns direct at 11:31 PM UTC on December 10, 2026 at 7°55′ Aries — 8:31 PM in Santiago, 6:31 PM in New York, 11:31 PM in London and 8:31 AM on December 11 in Tokyo.
| City | Turns direct · Dec 10, 2026 | Turns retrograde · Aug 9, 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| UTC | Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · 7°55′ Aries | Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · 27°52′ Aries |
| Honolulu United States | 1:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−10 | 8:06 AM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−10 |
| Anchorage United States | 2:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−9 | 10:06 AM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−8 |
| Los Angeles United States | 3:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−8 | 11:06 AM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−7 |
| Phoenix United States | 4:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−7 | 11:06 AM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−7 |
| Denver United States | 4:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−7 | 12:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−6 |
| Chicago United States | 5:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−6 | 1:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−5 |
| Mexico City Mexico | 5:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−6 | 12:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−6 |
| New York United States | 6:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−5 | 2:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−4 |
| Toronto Canada | 6:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−5 | 2:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−4 |
| Bogotá Colombia | 6:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−5 | 1:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−5 |
| Lima Peru | 6:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−5 | 1:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−5 |
| Caracas Venezuela | 7:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−4 | 2:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−4 |
| Santiago Chile | 8:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−3 | 2:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−4 |
| Buenos Aires Argentina | 8:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−3 | 3:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−3 |
| São Paulo Brazil | 8:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC−3 | 3:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC−3 |
| Reykjavík Iceland | 11:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC | 6:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC |
| London United Kingdom | 11:31 PM Thu, Dec 10, 2026 · UTC | 7:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+1 |
| Lagos Nigeria | 12:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+1 | 7:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+1 |
| Paris France | 12:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+1 | 8:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+2 |
| Berlin Germany | 12:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+1 | 8:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+2 |
| Johannesburg South Africa | 1:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+2 | 8:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+2 |
| Cairo Egypt | 1:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+2 | 9:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+3 |
| Athens Greece | 1:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+2 | 9:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+3 |
| Istanbul Turkey | 2:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+3 | 9:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+3 |
| Moscow Russia | 2:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+3 | 9:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+3 |
| Nairobi Kenya | 2:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+3 | 9:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+3 |
| Tehran Iran | 3:01 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+3:30 | 9:36 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+3:30 |
| Dubai United Arab Emirates | 3:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+4 | 10:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+4 |
| Karachi Pakistan | 4:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+5 | 11:06 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+5 |
| New Delhi India | 5:01 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+5:30 | 11:36 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+5:30 |
| Kathmandu Nepal | 5:16 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+5:45 | 11:51 PM Mon, Aug 9, 2027 · UTC+5:45 |
| Dhaka Bangladesh | 5:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+6 | 12:06 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+6 |
| Bangkok Thailand | 6:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+7 | 1:06 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+7 |
| Jakarta Indonesia | 6:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+7 | 1:06 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+7 |
| Singapore | 7:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+8 | 2:06 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+8 |
| Beijing China | 7:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+8 | 2:06 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+8 |
| Manila Philippines | 7:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+8 | 2:06 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+8 |
| Perth Australia | 7:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+8 | 2:06 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+8 |
| Seoul South Korea | 8:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+9 | 3:06 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+9 |
| Tokyo Japan | 8:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+9 | 3:06 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+9 |
| Adelaide Australia | 10:01 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+10:30 | 3:36 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+9:30 |
| Brisbane Australia | 9:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+10 | 4:06 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+10 |
| Sydney Australia | 10:31 AM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+11 | 4:06 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+10 |
| Auckland New Zealand | 12:31 PM Fri, Dec 11, 2026 · UTC+13 | 6:06 AM Tue, Aug 10, 2027 · UTC+12 |
Stations from the NASA JPL DE440 ephemeris. Swiss Ephemeris agrees on every Saturn station 1900–2050: median under a minute, largest 1.2 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 Saturn retrograde right now?
Right now · October 28, 2026
Yes — retrograde
♄ Aries 9.49°
Moving backward 0.0662° per day. Direct again on December 10, 2026.
The traditional reading
What does Saturn retrograde mean?
Saturn rules structure, responsibility, limits and time. Its yearly retrograde lasts about four and a half months, and tradition reads it as a period for reviewing commitments: what you have built, what still holds and what needs reinforcing. Lessons that were skipped come back to be learned, and responsibilities that were avoided reappear.
What to avoid
- Cutting corners on work that needs to last
- Taking on new long-term obligations without thought
- Ignoring problems in structures you rely on
What the other pages do not tell you
The part that is measurable
36.1%
of all days in 2016–2036,
131.9 a year on average — about one day in 3.
316 days
of 2026 with the shadows counted, against 137 of
retrograde proper — 87% of the year.
119–141
days in the lightest and heaviest year of 2016–2036.
Saturn is retrograde 137 days in 2026 — 56 of the 101 years from 1950 to 2050 have more. The most is 141 days, in 27 of those years, first in 1956; the fewest is 119, in 4 of those years, first in 1973.
2026 in detail
Saturn's stations in 2026, in UTC, with the degree inside the sign.
Period 1 of 1 · 137 days · retreats 6.82°
July 26 → December 10, 2026
Stations retrograde
Jul 26, 2026, 7:56 PM UTC ·
Aries 14.75°
Stations direct
Dec 10, 2026, 11:31 PM UTC ·
Aries 7.93°
Pre-retrograde shadow opens
Apr 20, 2026 · 97 days early
Post-retrograde shadow closes
Mar 15, 2027 · 94 days after
Full affected window
329 days
Falls in Aries, which traditionally colors it toward initiative, appetite and the willingness to go first
Which signs it happens in
50 retrograde periods of Saturn between 2000 and 2050, grouped by the sign the station falls in. They spread across all twelve signs, with no more than 6 in any one.
Answered from the ephemeris, 1950–2050
Saturn retrograde in numbers
How often is Saturn retrograde?
Once a year, give or take: every 378 days on average, so each loop starts about 12.7 days later in the calendar than the one before. That makes 97 loops between 1950 and 2050.
How long does Saturn retrograde last?
138 days on average, from 133.6 to 141.4 days in 1950–2050. The longest of them began on April 16, 1959. Counting both shadows, the whole window averages 330.5 days, which leaves about 47 days between one window and the next.
When is the next Saturn retrograde?
Saturn is retrograde right now and turns direct on December 10, 2026. The loop after that starts on August 9, 2027 at 6:06 PM UTC, at 27°52′ Aries, and ends on December 24, 2027 — 136 days.
When is Saturn retrograde in 2027?
Once: August 9 to December 24 in Aries.
Why Saturn turns back
Saturn orbits outside Earth's path, so it appears to reverse around opposition — the weeks when Earth overtakes it on the inside track. Earth and Saturn line up again every 378.09 days, and across 2016–2036 a single retrograde lasted 137 days on average. Not one of those 21 years went without one.
Saturn retrograde on 36.1% of days, 2016–2036
Tradition ties Saturn to structure, duty, limits and the work you postponed, and reads its retrograde as the time to go back over them. In practice that advice applies on about one day in three. 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 Saturn Retrograde Right Now? Saturn Retrograde 2026 Dates.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/retrograde/saturn/
For Wikipedia
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