Glossary

Ephemeris

A table, or an engine, giving the exact position of the Sun, Moon and planets for any date and time you ask for.

An ephemeris is simply a record of where things were, or will be: the Sun, Moon and every planet's position along the ecliptic, listed for a given date and time, or worked out on demand for any date and time at all. Printed ones used to fill whole books, one row per day; this site computes the same numbers directly from the underlying orbital mechanics, for the exact instant asked for rather than the nearest tabulated day. Every fact on every page here — a house cusp, an exact aspect, a moon phase — traces back to an ephemeris calculation first. The chart, the daily reading and the almanac are all just different ways of presenting the same underlying positions.

All twenty terms, and the three guides →

Method & limits

Astronomy first, reflection second.

Tropical, geocentric, from Astronomy Engine. This entry describes what's computed; any reading is for reflection, not health, legal or money guidance.