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The moving sky · A Zodiaris field guide

Is Mercury retrograde right now?

A clear answer, the next dates to know and a closer look at the whole cycle — including the shadow periods on either side.

One event, the same moment worldwide.
Checked
No

Mercury right now

Direct motion

Mercury is moving forward and is outside its shadow periods.

Current position · 27° Libra 45′

The next cycle

Three phases.
One complete cycle.

56.9days, including shadows

Pre-shadow19.9 days

Retrograde20.4 days

Post-shadow16.6 days

This cycle begins Oct 4. Mercury moves forward during both shadow phases.

Coming up

One cycle. Four turning points.

All times in UTC.

The motion behind the dates

Forward, back, forward.

The same stretch of zodiac,
visited three times.

  • Pre-shadow
  • Retrograde
  • Post-shadow
5° Scorpio 02′Oct 4, 2026, 9:10 AM UTCPre-shadow · Forward
Oct 4Drag or use the arrow keysNov 30

Calculated positions sampled every 12 hours, with exact cycle boundaries included. The curve shows movement along the zodiac as seen from Earth.

  1. Pre-shadow begins

    5° Scorpio 02′Direct motion · revisiting beginsNext boundary

  2. Retrograde begins

    20° Scorpio 59′Apparent backward motion begins

  3. Direct station

    5° Scorpio 02′Forward motion · post-shadow begins

  4. Post-shadow ends

    20° Scorpio 59′Direct motion · shadow complete

The milestones above are equally spaced; the charts show elapsed time. Mercury is retrograde only between boundaries 02 and 03.

Explore the next station in Sky →

The astronomy

What actually changes?

Apparent motion, a moving viewpoint

Earth and the other planets travel around the Sun at different speeds. From our moving viewpoint, a planet can appear to travel backward through the zodiac for a while. It continues along its orbit around the Sun.

What is a station?

A station is the turning point where the rate of change in a planet’s geocentric ecliptic longitude passes through zero. A retrograde station starts the backward interval; a direct station ends it.

A shadow is a repeat passage

Mercury crosses the same stretch of zodiac three times: forward, backward, then forward again. Astrologers call the first and last passages the pre-shadow and post-shadow. Mercury moves direct during both.

Dates depend on the clock

A station happens at one instant worldwide. It can fall on different calendar dates in New York, Los Angeles and UTC. The time-zone selector converts every event using the offset in effect on that date, including daylight saving time.

How the four boundaries are found

Pre-shadow begins when Mercury first reaches the longitude of its upcoming direct station. Post-shadow ends when it passes the longitude of its retrograde station again. The two stations define the retrograde interval; the shadow boundaries describe repeated positions on either side.

Calculation method & sources

Positions use the tropical zodiac and geocentric apparent ecliptic longitude calculated with Astronomy Engine 2.1.19. Stations are the same prepared events used by the Zodiaris Sky calendar. They are found from a sign change in longitude speed, sampled symmetrically one hour before and after the instant, with the time search narrowed to one second.

Shadow crossings use those station longitudes. Times are displayed to the minute; this display precision is not a claim of one-minute agreement with every ephemeris. Small differences can arise from the astronomical model, coordinate conventions and rounding.

Reference: Astronomy Engine documentation. Shadow convention and independent date checks: Cafe Astrology’s retrograde tables. No personal birth data is used.