When seen from the perspective of an astrological horoscope, the Geo Centric theme acts as the key reference point. It is based on the assumption of keeping the apparent reference of Earth as the center point with all the planets revolving around it. Thus it is important to know the effect of how different planets affect while transitioning around the zodiac signs based upon keeping Earth as the base. However in reality as per the onus of the solar system it's always the planets circulating around the sun in the order of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
As Earth is taken as the base, we generally consider Mercury and Venus as inner planets whereas Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are considered as outer planets to the Earth's orbit. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto which are much further away are not considered within the parlance of Vedic Astrology but in essence they also need to be seen as outer planets. The Sun and the Moon which is revolving around the Earth are considered as the luminaries emitting source of light and have a significant role to play in the charter of a horoscope. They signify the soul and the mind respectively and play a crucial role in the decoding of a horoscope. In fact the Ascendant sign (the sign rising in the Eastern Horizon when an individual takes birth / event takes place), the Sun sign and the Moon sign are considered as the Big 3 in a horoscope and are extremely essential in deriving a number of areas to study within a horoscope. Their use both as individual points as well as a reference point based on which other planetary configurations are studied can exhibit wide avenues of analysis within the purview of a horoscope.
Daily Motion of Planets
Let's go about ascertaining the average motion of planets viewed in from the Earth's geo centric perspective. Though they all revolve around the Sun, we consider the center of the Earth as the base point and determine the movement travelled by the various planets when circulating around the Sun in the solar system. Please do note this is more or less the average daily speed whereas actual speeds can vary on a given day, depending on when a planet turns stationary and moves between direct and retrograde motion. Also listing down the highest and lowest daily speeds for those available cases.
Sun
Average Speed : 00°59'08"
Highest Speed : 01°03'00"
Lowest Speed : 00°57'10"
Moon
Average Speed : 13°10'35"
Highest Speed : 16°30'00"
Lowest Speed : 11°45'36"
Mars
Average Speed : 00°31'27"
Highest Speed : 00°52'00"
Lowest Speed : −00°26'12"
Mercury
Average Speed : 01°23'00"
Highest Speed : 02°25'00"
Lowest Speed : −01°30'00"
Jupiter
Average Speed : 00°04'59"
Highest Speed : 00°15'40"
Lowest Speed : −00°08'50"
Venus
Average Speed : 01°12'00"
Highest Speed : 01°22'00"
Lowest Speed : −00°41'12"
Saturn
Average Speed : 00°02'01"
Highest Speed : 08°48'00"
Lowest Speed : −00°05'30"
Though planets further than Saturn are considered within the purview of Vedic Astrology, documenting below the speeds of the planets much further from the Earth such as Uranus, Neptune and Pluto for the purpose of reference
Uranus
Average Speed : 00°00'42"
Highest Speed : 00°04'00"
Lowest Speed : −00°02'40"
Neptune
Average Speed : 00°00'24"
Highest Speed : 00°02'25"
Lowest Speed : −00°01'45"
Pluto
Average Speed : 00°00'15"
Highest Speed : 00°02'30"
Lowest Speed : −00°01'48"
When it comes to the nodes Rahu and Ketu, they normally transit in a reverse direction as seen from the Earth's parlance and their average daily motion is documented below:
Rahu
Average Speed : −00°03'00"
Ketu
Average Speed : −00°03'00"
For the purpose of a horoscope, the Ascendant plays a massively important role and this is deduced based on Earth's own rotation around it's axis which approximately takes about 23 hours 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds to cover the full span of 360°. Hence on an average day of 24 hours we can say that the Earth rotates 360° plus about an additional degree for the remaining about 4 minutes after completing one full rotation
Earth (For Ascendant)
Average Speed : 361°00'00"
Speed Order of Planets
Thus, when looked at the speed order, we can easily decipher that the Ascendant is the fastest being able to cover the entire paradigm of 360° covering all the zodiac signs in a day. This is followed by the Moon which covers on an average an entire Nakshatra span of 13°20'00". It covers the entire 27 Nakshatras spread across the 12 zodiac signs in just a little over 27 days. These are followed by the monthly planets viz Mercury, Venus and Sun all of which transit a zodiac sign in about a month's time. Then it is followed by the bi-monthly planet Mars which roughly transits a sign around once every two odd months. After this comes Jupiter which approximately transits in a zodiac sign for a period of a year. Then comes the nodes Rahu & Ketu which stay in a sign for roughly a year and a half and finally rounding up is Saturn which transits in a zodiac sign for a period of 2 and half years. One of the pertinent reasons why the planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are eliminated from the ambit of Vedic Astrology could be the fact that they take a very long time to complete a full round of the zodiac with these planets approximately taking about 84 years, 148 years and 236 years to complete one full cycle. That could be a potential reason as to why the impact may not be of much significance when seen from an individual horoscope as their transit time is exceedingly large.
Retrograde Motion
While studying the motion of planets, it is extremely prudent to also take into account the phenomena of the retrograde effect. Retrograde may mean moving backwards but in essence the planets don't really head backwards while revolving around the Sun in the solar system. But since we are looking at the movement of planets from the Earth's perspective, certain planets appear to be going backwards causing this phenomena. It in fact needs to be titled to as apparent retrograde motion since it's factored from the Earth's angle. The most widely used example of understanding this phenomena is by considering 2 parallel trains. For those placed in the faster train, it gives an illusory appearance of the slower train moving backwards and going in the opposite direction but in essence that's not the case and it is only moving slowly. This happens when the planets revolve around the Sun and undergo velocity changes at different paths in it's movement.
When considering Vedic Astrology, the Sun and Moon only move in the forward direction and do ever come into the picture of getting retrograde. The Rahu and Ketu almost always go in the reverse direction and hence they more or less always tend to be retrograde. Rahu and Ketu are mathematical pointers that arise when the orbit of the Moon cuts the ecliptic. True nodes tend to wobble around a bit causing some tilt in the opposite direction whereas Mean nodes always only tend to be retrograde as it's averaged out and calculated at a constant speed. For all practical purposes, we can safely consider Rahu & Ketu to be in retrograde motion most of the time. When it comes to the other 5 planets mainly in Vedic Astrology, we can split them as inner planets to Earth comprising of Mercury & Venus and the outer planets to the earth consisting of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets tend to go retrograde at different times based on their varying velocity while orbiting in the solar system. This is the reason you would associate a negative sign when marking the slowest speed of these planets.
Types of Motions
As per the Geo - centric model, these 5 planets undergo 8 types of movement which are as below:
Direct Motion:
1) Manda - Direct and quickening or constant daily motion but somewhat slow moving
2) Mandatara - Direct and slowing or constant daily motion but very slow moving
3) Shiigra or Chara - Direct and slowing or constant daily motion but fast moving
4) Shiigratara or Atichara - Direct and quickening or constant daily motion but very fast moving
5) Kutila or Vikala - Planet is in a stationary motion which equates to defective/deficient motion
6) Sama - Direct and even comprising of smooth constant motion
7) Vakra - Moving backward quickly relative to its attainable daily daily speed
8) Anuvakra - Moving backward slowly relative to its attainable daily daily speed
The sequence of planets getting retrograde happen based on the following order:
- Kutila or Vikala - Planets are stationery
- Manda - Planets slow down but are in direct and quickening motion
- Sama - Planets are direct and in even motion
- Shiigratara or Atichara - Planets are in direct and quickening motion, or constant but fast
- Sama - Planets are in direct and even motion
- Shiigra or Chara - Planets are in direct and slowing motion, or constant but fast
- Mandatara - Plantets are direct and slowing, or constant but slow
- Kutila or Vikala - Planets are stationery
- Anu Vakra - Planets are retrograde but slow
- Vakra - Planets are retrograde but fast
- Anu Vakra - Planets are retrograde but slow
- Kutila - Planets become stationery again
Listed below are the approximate days in which the planets become retrograde:
Mercury - It takes approximately 88 days to orbit around the Sun. Goes into retrograde motion about 3 to 4 times in a year and lasts roughly for around 24 days (3-4 weeks)
Venus - It takes approximately 225 days to orbit around the Sun. Goes into retrograde motion once in about 18 months and lasts roughly for around 50 days (7 weeks)
Mars - It takes approximately 687 days to orbit around the Sun. Goes into retrograde motion once in about 26 months and lasts roughly for around 74 days (2.5 months)
Jupiter - It takes approximately 4333 days to orbit around the Sun. Goes into retrograde motion once in about 9 months and lasts roughly for around 122 days (4 months)
Saturn - It takes approximately 10756 days to orbit around the Sun. Goes into retrograde motion once in about a year and lasts roughly for around 140 days (4.5 to 5 months)
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