Practice
Now you do it alone. Get out paper and a calculator.
The two recipes, for reference:
- Longitude to sign: divide by 30. Whole number + 1 is the sign number. The left over is the degrees inside the sign.
- Western to Vedic: sidereal = tropical − ayanamsa. If it goes below 0, add 360.
Reading a longitude
Section titled “Reading a longitude”1. A planet is at longitude 124.2°. Which sign is it in?
124.2 divided by 30 is 4 and a bit.
124.2 ÷ 30 = 4, with 4.2 left over. Sign number 4 + 1 = 5, which is Leo.
2. A planet is at longitude 235.5°. How many degrees into its sign is it?
235.5 divided by 30 is 7 and a bit. 7 times 30 is 210.
235.5 ÷ 30 = 7, with 25.5 left over (7 × 30 = 210, and 235.5 − 210 = 25.5). So it is 25.5° into sign number 8, Scorpio.
3. Go backwards. A planet is at Capricorn 14.5°. What is its longitude?
Capricorn is sign number 10, so 9 full signs come before it.
Capricorn is sign 10, so 9 signs come before it. 9 × 30 = 270. Add the 14.5: 284.5°.
Western to Vedic
Section titled “Western to Vedic”4. Chart B was born on 21 August 1987. The tropical Sun is at 147.9° and the ayanamsa is 23.7°. What is the Sun’s sidereal longitude?
Take the ayanamsa away from the tropical longitude.
147.9 − 23.7 = 124.2°. You met this number in question 1: it is Leo 4.2°.
5. Chart F was born on 11 December 2025. The tropical Sun is at 259.7° and the ayanamsa is 24.2°. What is the Sun’s sidereal longitude?
259.7 minus 24.2.
259.7 − 24.2 = 235.5°.
6. Still Chart F. You found in question 2 that 235.5° is in Scorpio, so the Vedic Sun sign is Scorpio. What is the Western Sun sign?
Use the tropical number, 259.7. Do not take the ayanamsa away.
259.7 ÷ 30 = 8, with 19.7 left over. Sign number 9 is Sagittarius. A Western Sagittarius, a Vedic Scorpio.
7. Chart E was born on 19 February 2016. The tropical Sun is at 329.9° and the ayanamsa is 24.1°. What is the Vedic Sun sign?
First 329.9 minus 24.1. Then divide by 30.
329.9 − 24.1 = 305.8°. Then 305.8 ÷ 30 = 10, with 5.8 left over. Sign number 11 is Aquarius, at 5.8°.
Two trickier ones
Section titled “Two trickier ones”8. A baby is born in early April 2026 with the tropical Sun at 12.5°. The ayanamsa is 24.2°. What is the sidereal longitude?
The subtraction gives a negative number. What does the formula say to do then?
12.5 − 24.2 = −11.7. That is below 0, so add 360: −11.7 + 360 = 348.3°. That is Pisces 18.3°. A Western Aries, a Vedic Pisces.
9. The ayanamsa is 24.2° in 2026. Roughly what will it be in the year 2100? An answer to one decimal place is fine.
The gap grows by about 1 degree every 72 years. How many years from 2026 to 2100?
From 2026 to 2100 is 74 years. The gap grows about 1° every 72 years, so it grows by about 1°. 24.2 + 1.0 = about 25.2°.
All done. Every exercise in this set is finished.