Retrogrades · Mars
Mars retrograde 2027: Jan 10 to Apr 1, Virgo back into Leo
The red planet turns at 10°26′ Virgo, sits opposite the Sun on Feb 19, and walks back to 20°56′ Leo. The shadow opens before 2026 is out.
Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr, Atlas Novus Coelestis, 1742
At a glance
Mars is retrograde from Jan 10, 2027 to Apr 1, 2027, moving from 10°26′ Virgo back to 20°56′ Leo.
- Stations retrograde
- Jan 10, 2027 · 12:59 UTC10°26′ Virgo
- Stations direct
- Apr 1, 2027 · 14:08 UTC20°56′ Leo
- Pre-shadow begins
- Nov 5, 2026Mars reaches 20°56′ Leo
- Post-shadow ends
- Jun 8, 2027back at 10°26′ Virgo
- Opposition
- Feb 19, 2027 · 15:50 UTCclosest: 101.4 million km, Feb 20
See where Leo and Virgo fall in your chartFree birth chart: find the house the Mars loop runs through.
The dates
Mars turns on Sunday, Jan 10, and wakes up on Thursday, Apr 1
Try this today
- Put Jan 10, 2027 and Apr 1, 2027 in your calendar now. The station days are the ones astrologers watch most.
- If you have a big launch, move or fight-picking conversation planned for February 2027, ask yourself whether it can wait until after Apr 1. If it cannot, that is fine too.
New year, new gym membership, new plan. Then, ten days into January, the planet of drive and nerve stops in its tracks.
Mars stations retrograde on Jan 10, 2027 · 12:59 UTC at 10°26′ Virgo. For the next 81 days it appears to slide backward along the zodiac, until it stations direct on Apr 1, 2027 · 14:08 UTC at 20°56′ Leo. That is a retreat of 19.5 degrees, a little over a third of a sign's width.
Two facts surprise people. First, the retrograde itself is entirely a 2027 event. If you searched "Mars retrograde 2026", the honest answer is no, not quite. Second, the story still starts in 2026: Mars first touches 20°56′ Leo on Nov 5, 2026, which opens the pre-shadow. Count shadow to shadow and the whole cycle runs about 214 days, into June 2027.
Mars retrogrades are rarer than you might think. The last one began 25 months earlier, in 2024; the next waits 25 months, until Feb 14, 2029. Mercury does this three or four times a year. Mars makes you wait.
The sky behind it
Stations are the instants Mars's geocentric apparent ecliptic longitude stops changing, computed with skyfield and the JPL DE442 ephemeris (tropical zodiac, true equinox of date). Retrograde length: 81 days.
Two signs
Why Mars retrograde 2027 is a Virgo story and a Leo story
Try this today
- Find which house of your chart holds the stretch from 20°56′ Leo to 10°26′ Virgo. The checker below does the degree maths for any planet you enter.
- During the Virgo weeks, pick one habit to repair rather than replace.
- During the Leo weeks, return to one creative thing you dropped. No audience required.
Mars arrives in Virgo on Nov 25, 2026, already slowing down. It turns at 10°26′ Virgo, and on Feb 21, 2027 · 14:13 UTC it backs over the line into Leo. It spends roughly 42 retrograde days in Virgo and 39 in Leo.
Then the long way home. Mars stations direct in Leo, re-enters Virgo on May 14, 2027, and finally leaves for Libra on Jul 15, 2027. Across both visits Mars spends about 150 days in Virgo, well over twice its average stay of about eight weeks per sign.
Astrologers read Mars in Virgo as effort turned toward craft, routine, the body and the to-do list, and Mars in Leo as effort turned toward pride, play, creative work and being seen. Retrograde is traditionally read as a review: the energy that normally pushes forward circles back to check the work. In Virgo, that might look like fixing a system that has been quietly failing. In Leo, it can feel like asking whether a passion project still lights you up.
That is a reading tradition, a way to reflect. It does not mean anything has to go wrong.
Before and after
The shadow period: Nov 5, 2026 to Jun 8, 2027
Try this today
- Write down what you start or argue about around Nov 5. Check the note again in March and in June.
- If you were born with a planet between 20°56′ Leo and 10°26′ Virgo, read the three crossing dates in the tool below as one story in three chapters.
Picture a hallway. Mars walks down it in late 2026, turns around, walks back, then walks it a third time. The hallway is the stretch of zodiac from 20°56′ Leo to 10°26′ Virgo. The shadow is any day Mars spends inside it while not retrograde.
The pre-shadow opens on Nov 5, 2026, when Mars first reaches 20°56′ Leo. It lasts 66 days, through the holidays, up to the station on Jan 10. Many astrologers say the themes of a retrograde start showing up here, like a preview.
The post-shadow begins at the direct station on Apr 1, 2027 and ends on Jun 8, 2027, when Mars finally passes 10°26′ Virgo again. That is 67 days, longer than the pre-shadow because Mars picks up speed slowly after a station.
Shadow periods are a modern astrological convention, not an astronomical event. But the degrees are real, and so are the three crossings: any placement in your chart inside that hallway gets visited three times.
The sky behind it
Pre-shadow start: the instant Mars's longitude first equals its direct-station longitude (140.9266°). Post-shadow end: the instant it again equals its retrograde-station longitude (160.429°). Both found with a root search on the DE442 positions.
Look up
Mars opposition 2027: Feb 19, the best night to see it
Try this today
- Step outside an hour after sunset on Feb 19. Find the brightest orange light in the east.
- Photograph the same patch of sky once a week from January to April. Mars's shift against the background stars is the retrograde, caught on your phone.
Here is the part you can check with your own eyes. Halfway through the retrograde, Earth passes directly between Mars and the Sun. That is opposition, and in 2027 it happens on Feb 19, 2027 · 15:50 UTC, with Mars at 0°46′ Virgo and the Sun at 0°46′ Pisces.
Around opposition Mars rises at sunset, sets at sunrise and shines as a steady orange point. Look east after dark in mid February 2027 and you cannot really miss it. On opposition night it sits about 4 degrees from Regulus, the brightest star of Leo.
The closest approach to Earth comes about 8 hours after opposition, on Feb 20, 2027, at about 101.4 million km (63.0 million miles). That is 0.6779 AU. EarthSky notes this is the most distant Mars opposition of the 21st century, so the disc in a telescope will be small. To the naked eye it is still a bright, warm light.
Retrograde and opposition are the same event seen two ways: geometry for astronomers, a turning point for astrologers.
The sky behind it
Opposition: the instant Mars's and the Sun's geocentric ecliptic longitudes differ by exactly 180°. Closest approach: the minimum of the Earth-Mars distance (101,415,211 km), DE442.
A gentler way
What to actually do with a Mars retrograde
Try this today
- Make a three-column list: keep, fix, drop. Fill it once in January and once after the direct station.
- Save the bold new start for after Apr 1, or better, after Jun 8, if the timing is yours to choose.
A lot of retrograde content reads like a storm warning. That gets old fast, and it is not how the tradition reads them. A Mars retrograde is usually framed as a time to rework rather than start, and to pick your battles with care.
Think of the 81 days as a pit stop. Mars is the engine; retrograde is the mechanic checking the tyres. You can still drive. It is just a good time to notice which fights are worth it, which workouts actually suit your body, and which goals you set on autopilot.
Practical ideas people use: revisit an old project rather than launching a new one, return to a training routine you know works, have the overdue honest conversation calmly instead of in a flash of temper. None of this is a rule, and none of it is medical, legal or financial advice. If something important cannot wait, it does not have to.
Your chart
Does the Mars loop touch your chart?
Pick any date to see where Mars is and how far it is from the next turn. Then enter a placement from your birth chart: if it sits between 20°56′ Leo and 10°26′ Virgo, Mars crosses it three times, and you will see each date.
On Feb 19, 2027, Mars is at 0°46′ Virgo: retrograde.
In 41 days, on Apr 1, 2027, Mars stations direct.
Does the loop cross one of your placements?
Enter any planet or point from your birth chart, such as your Sun, Moon or rising degree.
Yes. 25°00′ Leo sits inside the retrograde zone, so Mars crosses it 3 times.
- Nov 14, 2026, moving forward
- Mar 7, 2027, moving backward (retrograde)
- Apr 29, 2027, moving forward
The zone runs from 20°56′ Leo to 10°26′ Virgo. Crossing dates are interpolated from a daily table, so treat them as accurate to about a day.
More to read
Shorter reads. Each opens in place.
Last time
The previous Mars retrograde, for comparison
Mars last turned on Dec 6, 2024 at 6°10′ Leo and went direct on Feb 24, 2025 at 17°01′ Cancer, 79 days. If something from that winter resurfaces, notice the pattern: the 2027 loop sits about one sign further along the zodiac, as each Mars retrograde does.
Continue readingShow less
Next time
The next Mars retrograde after 2027
Feb 14, 2029 to May 5, 2029, from 13°55′ Libra back to 24°56′ Virgo. Again it moves about a sign further on, this time straddling Virgo and Libra.
Continue readingShow less
Mars retrograde 2027, computed
Every station, shadow and sign change of the loop, in UTC.
| Event | Date and time (UTC) | Mars position |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-shadow begins | Nov 5, 2026 · 15:33 UTC | 20°56′ Leo |
| Enters Virgo | Nov 25, 2026 · 23:37 UTC | 0° Virgo |
| Stations retrograde | Jan 10, 2027 · 12:59 UTC | 10°26′ Virgo |
| Opposition (Sun opposite) | Feb 19, 2027 · 15:50 UTC | 0°46′ Virgo |
| Closest to Earth | Feb 20, 2027 · 00:08 UTC | 101,415,211 km |
| Retrogrades into Leo | Feb 21, 2027 · 14:13 UTC | 29° Leo |
| Stations direct | Apr 1, 2027 · 14:08 UTC | 20°56′ Leo |
| Re-enters Virgo | May 14, 2027 · 14:47 UTC | 0° Virgo |
| Post-shadow ends | Jun 8, 2027 · 01:58 UTC | 10°26′ Virgo |
| Enters Libra | Jul 15, 2027 · 05:40 UTC | 0° Libra |
| Stations retrograde | Stations direct | Span | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 6, 2024 | Feb 24, 2025 | 6°10′ Leo to 17°01′ Cancer | 79 |
| Jan 10, 2027 | Apr 1, 2027 | 10°26′ Virgo to 20°56′ Leo | 81 |
| Feb 14, 2029 | May 5, 2029 | 13°55′ Libra to 24°56′ Virgo | 80 |
All times are UTC. In the Americas the local date can be a day earlier; in Asia and Australia a day later.
Quick answers
When is Mars retrograde in 2027?
Mars stations retrograde on Jan 10, 2027 · 12:59 UTC at 10°26′ Virgo and stations direct on Apr 1, 2027 · 14:08 UTC at 20°56′ Leo. That is 81 days of retrograde motion.
Is Mars retrograde in 2026?
No. The retrograde itself happens entirely in 2027. But the pre-shadow starts in 2026: Mars first reaches 20°56′ Leo, the degree where the loop will end, on Nov 5, 2026. So if you count the shadow, the cycle spans late 2026 into mid 2027.
What is the Mars retrograde 2027 shadow period?
The pre-shadow runs Nov 5, 2026 to Jan 10, 2027 (66 days), while Mars first crosses the degrees it will later walk back over. The post-shadow runs Apr 1, 2027 to Jun 8, 2027 (67 days), until Mars returns to 10°26′ Virgo, where it turned. Shadow to shadow, about 214 days.
What sign is Mars retrograde in 2027?
Both Virgo and Leo. It turns back at 10°26′ Virgo, slips into Leo on Feb 21, 2027, and stations direct at 20°56′ Leo. About 42 of the retrograde days are in Virgo and 39 in Leo.
When is Mars opposition 2027?
Mars reaches opposition, exactly across the sky from the Sun, on Feb 19, 2027 · 15:50 UTC, with Mars at 0°46′ Virgo and the Sun at 0°46′ Pisces. Its closest approach to Earth follows about 8 hours later, at roughly 101.4 million km.
Is Mars actually moving backward?
No. Retrograde is an optical effect. Earth, on its faster inside orbit, overtakes Mars, and for a few weeks Mars appears to drift backward against the stars. It is the same thing you see passing a slower car on the highway.
When is the next Mars retrograde after 2027?
Feb 14, 2029 to May 5, 2029, from 13°55′ Libra back to 24°56′ Virgo. Mars turns retrograde roughly every 26 months; the one before 2027 ran Dec 6, 2024 to Feb 24, 2025.
