Planetary Speed
How fast each body moves, and how to read the speed indicator on the charts.
Typical and maximum speeds
Speeds are geocentric ecliptic-longitude motion, in degrees, arcminutes, and arcseconds per day. Each figure comes from sampling a body’s longitude at regular intervals across 1900–2053 and measuring how far it moves. “Typical” is the median; “maximum” is the fastest observed. Direct and retrograde are listed separately because retrograde motion is much slower.
| Body | Typical direct | Max direct | Typical retrograde | Max retrograde |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun | 0° 59′ 06″ | 1° 01′ 12″ | — | — |
| Moon | 13° 03′ 25″ | 15° 23′ 34″ | — | — |
| Mercury | 1° 30′ 36″ | 2° 12′ 07″ | 0° 34′ 04″ | 1° 23′ 09″ |
| Venus | 1° 12′ 18″ | 1° 15′ 32″ | 0° 24′ 53″ | 0° 37′ 58″ |
| Mars | 0° 38′ 34″ | 0° 47′ 27″ | 0° 14′ 13″ | 0° 24′ 03″ |
| Jupiter | 0° 10′ 30″ | 0° 14′ 31″ | 0° 05′ 27″ | 0° 08′ 13″ |
| Saturn | 0° 05′ 23″ | 0° 07′ 48″ | 0° 03′ 14″ | 0° 04′ 58″ |
| Uranus | 0° 02′ 34″ | 0° 03′ 46″ | 0° 01′ 44″ | 0° 02′ 38″ |
| Neptune | 0° 01′ 37″ | 0° 02′ 16″ | 0° 01′ 11″ | 0° 01′ 40″ |
| Pluto | 0° 01′ 15″ | 0° 02′ 23″ | 0° 01′ 01″ | 0° 01′ 40″ |
The Sun and Moon never retrograde. The Moon’s figures are approximate — its apparent speed varies slightly with the observer’s location.
Reading the speed indicator
Anywhere a body’s speed appears in a table, a small colored percentage sits beside it. Hover or tap it to see how its current motion compares to normal. Here’s how to read it:
- Color is direction. Green is direct (forward) motion; red is retrograde.
- The percentage is speed versus typical. 0% is the body’s median speed in its current direction; a positive value is that much faster, a negative value that much slower.
- Near a station the body is almost motionless — close to −100% — so we show (stationing) instead of a number.
So a green −3% reads “3% slower than its normal direct motion,” a green +25% “25% faster,” and a red −40% “40% slower than its normal retrograde motion.”