Saturn return calculator: when is yours?
Enter your date of birth to see your natal Saturn and the dates of your first, second and third Saturn returns, with every exact pass. Free.
The Saturn return happens when Saturn comes back to the sign and degree it had when you were born. Saturn takes about 29.5 years to go around the zodiac, so the first return comes around age 29, the second around 58 and the third around 88.
In astrology it is traditionally read as a time to take stock of responsibilities, work, commitments and what you are building. It is a symbolic tradition, offered for entertainment and self-reflection. The dates, though, are astronomy, calculated on this site.
Find my Saturn return
This calculator needs JavaScript. The method is explained below, and the 22 arcana are listed with their meanings.
How the Saturn return is calculated
We calculate Saturn's position in the zodiac for your date of birth and then follow Saturn day by day until it crosses that same degree again, refining each crossing to within minutes. The position is the apparent longitude of date, from the same astronomy engine as the birth chart on this site.
Saturn is retrograde for about four and a half months of every year. Near a return it often moves back over your natal degree and forward again, so there are frequently three exact passes instead of one. We list all of them, with the direction of Saturn's motion.
Many astrologers also count the whole time Saturn is within a few degrees of the natal degree. We show the span within 5 degrees, which usually lasts a little under two years.
Without a birth time we use noon in UTC. Saturn moves so slowly that this changes the degree by a few arc minutes at most; the only case that needs the time is a birth on the very day Saturn changed sign.
Questions
At what age does the Saturn return happen?
The first Saturn return comes between about 28 and 30, the second between about 57 and 60 and the third between about 86 and 90. The calculator shows the exact dates for your own chart.
Why are there three dates for one return?
Seen from Earth, Saturn spends about four and a half months of each year moving backward. Near your natal degree it can cross it going forward, back and forward again, which makes three exact passes.
How long does the Saturn return last?
The exact passes are usually spread over several months. Astrologers who count the whole approach and departure speak of two to three years, and this page shows the time Saturn spends within 5 degrees of your natal degree.
What if I do not know my birth time?
You can leave it empty. The calculator uses noon in UTC, which is accurate enough for Saturn, since it moves less than a seventh of a degree in a day.