The Vedic layer

Nakshatra Calculator — Find Your Birth Star

Your nakshatra is the star field your Moon occupied at birth — a 27-fold division of the sky, older and finer-grained than your zodiac sign.

Adds your Ascendant + the Sun’s pada. If unsure, leave blank.

To place the Moon against the fixed stars.

Today

The Moon is in Ashlesha today

An Ashlesha Moon is a strategist’s day, and a wary one. It favours incisive, behind-the-scenes work: seeing through a situation, untangling motives, handling something toxic, cutting a tie that’s gone bad, the research that goes where others won’t look. Perception is unusually penetrating. It’s a strong day to strategise, extricate, or quietly protect yourself. It’s a poor day for open, trusting beginnings — a first meeting, a public launch, anything that depends on candour and goodwill — because the energy coils inward and guards. Use it to see clearly and act covertly, not to extend your hand.

Read the Ashlesha page →

The 27 nakshatras

1AshwiniThe Horse's Head · Ketu2BharaniThe Bearer · Venus3KrittikaThe Blade · Sun4RohiniThe Growing One · Moon5MrigashiraThe Searching Deer · Mars6ArdraThe Storm's Teardrop · Rahu7PunarvasuThe Return of the Light · Jupiter8PushyaThe Nourisher · Saturn9AshleshaThe Coiled Serpent · Mercury10MaghaThe Throne of the Ancestors · Ketu11Purva PhalguniThe Front of the Resting Bed · Venus12Uttara PhalguniThe Back of the Resting Bed · Sun13HastaThe Hand · Moon14ChitraThe Bright Jewel · Mars15SwatiThe Sprout in the Wind · Rahu16VishakhaThe Forked Archway · Jupiter17AnuradhaThe Following Star · Saturn18JyeshthaThe Eldest · Mercury19MulaThe Bundle of Roots · Ketu20Purva AshadhaThe Invincible Water · Venus21Uttara AshadhaThe Later Victory · Sun22ShravanaThe Ear · Moon23DhanishtaThe Drum · Mars24ShatabhishaThe Hundred Healers · Rahu25Purva BhadrapadaThe Front of the Funeral Cot · Jupiter26Uttara BhadrapadaThe Serpent of the Deep · Saturn27RevatiThe Fish · Mercury

Questions

What is a nakshatra?
A nakshatra is one of 27 equal segments the sky is divided into along the Moon’s path — each 13°20′ wide. It is the oldest layer of Indian astrology, finer-grained than the twelve zodiac signs, and it is read from where the Moon sat at your birth rather than the Sun. Think of it as the star field behind your Moon.
What is a pada?
Each nakshatra is split into four quarters of 3°20′ each, called padas. The pada narrows the reading — same nakshatra, different pada, noticeably different emphasis — and it is what links your placement to a specific point in the finer navamsha chart. Your calculator result names both your nakshatra and your pada.
Why is my nakshatra different from my zodiac sign?
Two reasons. First, your familiar sign is usually your Sun sign; your nakshatra is read from your Moon. Second, nakshatras are sidereal — measured against the fixed stars — while Western zodiac signs are tropical, measured against the seasons. The two frames have drifted about 24° apart, so the same Moon can be one sign tropically and sit in a nakshatra that belongs to the previous sign sidereally. That gap is not an error; it is two systems answering the same question differently.
Do I need my exact birth time?
Not for your nakshatra. The Moon moves about 13° a day, so unless you were born very near a boundary, your Moon nakshatra and pada are stable across the whole day — a date and birthplace are enough. Birth time only adds two things: your Ascendant nakshatra, and the Sun’s pada. If you have your time, enter it; if not, the Moon reading still stands.
Which sidereal system do you use?
The Lahiri ayanamsa — the Indian government standard, and the most widely used sidereal reference. Our positions are computed against the Swiss Ephemeris and agree with it to within a couple of arcseconds, which is why we can flag when a placement sits within an arcminute of a nakshatra boundary rather than guessing which side it falls on.