In 2027 every planet except Venus has a retrograde period. Mars is retrograde from January 10 to April 1, Jupiter until April 12 and Saturn from August 9 to December 23. Mercury turns retrograde three times, and Uranus, Neptune and Pluto each spend about five months in apparent backward motion. None of them actually reverses course: the effect comes from the Earth's own movement.
Retrograde calendar for 2027
A retrograde period begins and ends at a "station," the moment a planet's apparent motion through the zodiac stops and turns around. The table lists the stations in US Eastern Time. They are read from NASA's JPL Horizons ephemeris and checked against published astrological tables.
| Planet | Retrograde begins | Retrograde ends | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | February 9 | March 3 | 22 days |
| Mercury | June 10 | July 4 | 24 days |
| Mercury | October 7 | October 28 | 21 days |
| Venus | not retrograde in 2027 | ||
| Mars | Sunday, January 10, 7:59 a.m. EST | Thursday, April 1, 10:08 a.m. EDT | 81 days |
| Jupiter | December 12, 2026 | Monday, April 12, about 10:10 p.m. EDT | 121 days |
| Saturn | Monday, August 9, about 2:10 p.m. EDT | Thursday, December 23, about 9:47 p.m. EST | 136 days |
| Uranus | September 10, 2026 | February 8 | about 5 months |
| Uranus | September 15 | February 12, 2028 | about 5 months |
| Neptune | July 9 | December 15 | about 5 months |
| Pluto | May 8 | October 17 or 18 | about 5 months |
In UK time most dates are the same. Mars stations at 12:59 GMT on January 10 and at 15:08 BST on April 1, and Saturn turns retrograde at about 19:10 BST on August 9. Three stations fall after midnight in Britain and so move to the next day: Jupiter turns direct at about 03:10 BST on April 13, Saturn at about 02:47 GMT on December 24, and Pluto early on October 18.
The slow outer planets hover at their stations for hours, so their moments are given to the day. For Pluto the sources differ by about an hour around midnight Eastern Time, which is why two dates are shown. Mercury's exact times are on our Mercury retrograde 2027 page.
What does retrograde mean?
Planets normally drift from west to east against the background stars. From time to time each one appears to slow, stop and drift back the other way for a while. That backward stretch is retrograde motion, and the return to normal is called turning direct.
NASA describes it as an apparent change only: the planet does not reverse direction in its orbit. All the planets circle the Sun the same way, at different speeds. The Earth is on a faster, inner lane than Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. As we catch up with one of them and pass it, the planet shifts from being ahead of us to being behind, and against the distant stars it seems to slide backward. NASA compares it to two walkers: when the faster one passes, the slower one appears to fall back, though both are still walking forward.
Mercury and Venus are the reverse case. They are on faster lanes than ours, and they look retrograde when they overtake the Earth.
Mars retrograde 2027
Mars is retrograde from January 10 to April 1, 2027, a period of 81 days. Astrological calendars place it in the signs of Virgo and Leo.
Mars turns retrograde about every two years, less often than any other planet, because the Earth needs that long to catch up with it. The Old Farmer's Almanac lists the next one from February 14, 2029. A retrograde is the best time to look at Mars: the Earth is passing it, so the planet is at its nearest and brightest and is visible for most of the night as a steady orange point.
Jupiter retrograde 2027
Jupiter begins 2027 already retrograde. Its period started on December 12, 2026, and ends late on April 12, 2027, in Eastern Time, which is the early morning of April 13 in the UK. Astrological calendars place the whole period in Leo.
Jupiter is retrograde once a year for about four months.
Saturn retrograde 2027
Saturn turns retrograde on August 9, 2027, and turns direct on December 23 in Eastern Time (December 24 in the UK), 136 days later. Astrological calendars place the period in Aries.
Like Jupiter, Saturn is retrograde once a year, for about four and a half months.
Is Venus retrograde in 2027?
No. Venus is the one planet with no retrograde period in 2027. Its previous retrograde ran from October 3 to November 13, 2026, and the next one begins in May 2028. Venus turns retrograde about every 18 months, for about 40 days at a time, so some calendar years pass without one.
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto
The three most distant planets are retrograde for about five months of every year, simply because the Earth laps them once a year and they move very slowly. In 2027 Uranus finishes one period on February 8 and begins the next on September 15. Neptune is retrograde from July 9 to December 15, and Pluto from May 8 to mid-October.
Uranus and Neptune are too faint to pick out without binoculars or a telescope, and Pluto needs a large telescope. For these three, retrograde dates matter mainly to astrological calendars.
When are the most planets retrograde in 2027?
Putting the periods side by side gives the busy and the quiet parts of the year.
- January 10 to February 8: Mars, Jupiter and Uranus are retrograde together.
- April 13 to May 7: no planet is retrograde. This is the only such gap of the year.
- October 7 to October 17: five planets are retrograde at once: Mercury, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
- After December 24: only Uranus is retrograde as the year ends.
Having several planets retrograde at the same time is ordinary. The outer planets spend a third or more of every year that way, and their periods overlap.
What do astrologers make of retrograde planets?
In astrology each planet stands for an area of life: Mercury for communication, Mars for drive and conflict, and so on. By tradition, a retrograde is read as a time when that planet's themes turn inward or slow down, and when people revisit unfinished matters. Mercury's retrogrades get the most attention.
These readings are a tradition of interpretation. Astronomy has nothing to add to them: a station is a matter of viewing angle, and the planet itself does nothing different on that date.