Neptune is currently in retrograde, in Pisces located at 25 Pis 57' 34"

Planetary Aspects

(out 5 Days)

Neptune is currently in Opposition Mercury

   Ends on Wednesday, 04 October, 2023

Neptune is currently Sextile Pluto

Neptune is Quincunx Venus

   Starts on Monday, 02 October, 2023
   Peaks on Wednesday, 04 October, 2023, orb 0° 59' 59"
   Ends on Thursday, 05 October, 2023

Neptune is Quincunx Mars

   Starts on Wednesday, 04 October, 2023

Upcoming Retrogrades

PlanetStationary (retrograde)Stationary (direct)In Sign
neptune2024-07-02 10:41:00 UTC2024-12-07 23:43:00 UTCPisces
neptune2025-07-04 21:34:00 UTC2025-12-10 12:24:00 UTCAries

As the farthest known planet from the Sun in our solar system, Neptune, the 8th planet’s astronomical description is entirely appropriate to its astrological. It’s the densest giant planet and it moves very slowly. In astrology, it rules Pisces and is considered the planet of deception, spirituality, illusion, and addiction. It’s not all bad, though- as with other things, the flip sides are the good sides and intuition, dreams, sensitivity, mercy and compassion also fall under its auspices.

Interestingly enough, you also can’t see Neptune without help and its discovery wasn’t by way of actually seeing it: it was actually found using math. Alexis Brouvard started to notice that Uranus was behaving a little funny so he shined a flashlight in its eyes- no no, actually, what happened was he noticed there were some changes in its orbit people hadn’t really expected. He recognized this was likely due to it being in close proximity to a planet they had yet to discover- and Urbain Le Verrier predicted a position that might explain this from there.

Then, in 1846, Johann Galle whipped out a telescope and went looking- and he found it within a degree of that exact position. Technically speaking, Galileo probably did discover it much earlier, but at the time he did so, he just assumed that it was fixed star.

Neptune is known as something of a reality altering influence- which probably explains why it rules drugs and addiction. That said: are all drugs bad? No, absolutely not. Is escaping reality bad? Have you SEEN reality lately? That said, it’s really kind of difficult to change a reality you cannot face- which is where the problem with Neptune tends to lay. It makes it a little more difficult to decipher facts when feelings are involved and the lies we tell ourselves often change our perception more than any mind altering substance could. Except for maybe mescaline. I’m pretty sure mescaline might beat out bullshitting yourself.

Still, there’s definitely something said for the power of hopes, dreams, and being able to see things in an almost naive light from time to time.

The Retrograde

We get one Neptune retrograde a year but it lasts for a little over 5 months. If you have had areas of your life where you’re not being quite as honest with yourself as you should be- you might be getting your cognitive dissonance thumped pretty hard. I have, however, seen enough of these cycles come and go to recognize that like all those types of things: cognitive dissonance thumped often just gets even stronger for it. Kind of a shame really.

What should happen, rather is that those things which obscure the truth, whether you did it or someone else does it clears away. Reality knocks, you answer the door- maybe sometimes this sucks, but ultimately, it beats continuing to believe something that’s simply not true.

Lies, no matter how many people tell them, no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise: are not the truth. Neptune retrograde is usually a time when the truth comes stomping on in and whether you sit down and look at it or not is entirely up to you.

Planetary Positions

30.09.2023 at 20:34:46 UTC

chart wheel
PlanetLongitude
The Sun07 Lib 25' 23"
The Moon27 Ari 10' 02"
Mercury22 Vir 53' 50"
Venus23 Leo 28' 36"
Mars22 Lib 24' 35"
Jupiter14 Tau 26' 46" R
Saturn01 Pis 28' 60" R
Uranus22 Tau 38' 32" R
Neptune25 Pis 57' 34" R
Pluto27 Cap 54' 59" R

Solar Status

BZ Status:-5
Proton Density:4.33
Proton Speed:409.0 k/sec
KP Status:2.00
TypeSep 30Oct 1Oct 2
Active35%20%40%
Minor20%10%25%
Moderate5%1%10%
Strong1%1%1%
Kp Index Prediction
00-03UT2.673.001.33
03-06UT3.672.332.00
06-09UT2.672.004.00
09-12UT2.002.004.00
12-15UT1.331.333.00
15-18UT1.001.002.33
18-21UT1.332.002.33
21-00UT2.332.673.33
Solar Activity
Solar activity remained at low levels. Region 3445 (S13W70, Cso/beta) produced a C9.6 flare at 30/1157 UTC, the strongest of the period. Newly numbered Region 3451 (N15E68, Cao/beta) was also active, with a C8.0 flare produced at 30/0600 UTC. Minor development was observed in Region 3449 (N15W01, Cai/beta) and Region 3450 (S18E34, Eai/beta-gamma). The remaining spotted regions were either mostly stable or in gradual decay. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed in available coronagraph imagery.
Solar Wind
Solar wind parameters trended towards background levels. Total magnetic field strength steadily declined from 7 nT at the beginning of the period to 5 nT at the periods end. Solar wind speeds declined from ~475 km/s to ~425 km/s over past 24 hours. Phi angle was predominantly oriented in the positive sector.
Energetic Particle
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux reached high levels. The greater than 10 MeV proton flux was at background levels.