How long does a Neptune transit last?

A median 186 days at the 3° envelope, and the longest tenth run past 775 days. That is the practical difference between Neptune and the faster planets: there is no day on which it happens, only a stretch of a year or two in which it is true.

How many times does Neptune hit the same degree?

Three or five, never one — 14 of 19 sampled contacts crossed three times and 5 crossed five. The count is always odd, because the body enters and leaves the contact point from opposite sides.

How often does Neptune retrograde?

Once a year, for about 158 days, retracing 2.8°. Neptune covers only around two degrees a year going forward, so that small loop is enough to re-cross anything it has just passed.

How long is Neptune in one sign?

About fourteen years. The ingress table below is computed rather than divided out of the orbit, and it includes the re-ingresses a retrograde produces when Neptune crosses back over a sign boundary.

Transit hub

Neptune transits

♆ — fourteen years to a sign, and no contact that perfects only once.

Neptune transits are the contacts transiting Neptune makes to the points of your birth chart. Neptune needs about 164 years for one circuit of the zodiac — roughly fourteen years per sign — so its contacts are the slowest-forming in a chart after Pluto's. Neptune is at 3.8° Aries as of 2026-08-24, retrograde since 2026-07-07 and direct again 2026-12-12.

3.8° Aries

position · retrograde

℞ since 2026-07-07 · direct 2026-12-12

164 yr

one zodiac crossing

measured at 163.69 years. Neptune's orbit is the most circular of the outer planets, so unlike Pluto it spends almost the same time in every sign.

186 days

median contact (3° orb)

p90 775 days — over two years for the slowest tenth.

never once

crossings per contact

14 of 19 sampled conjunctions perfect three times and 5 perfect five. Neptune moves too slowly to clear its own retrograde arc, so a single-crossing contact does not happen.

Computed 2026-08-24 · Swiss Ephemeris 2.10.03 (pyswisseph) via POST /api/scan · 3° canonical envelope (CANONICAL_PRESSURE_ORB). Recomputed on every deploy.

Neptune's retrograde periods

Neptune retrograde periods, computed
Stations retrograde	At	Stations direct	At	Days	Arc retraced
7 Jul 2026	4.4° Aries	12 Dec 2026	1.6° Aries	158	2.8°
10 Jul 2027	6.6° Aries	15 Dec 2027	3.8° Aries	159	2.8°
11 Jul 2028	8.9° Aries	16 Dec 2028	6.0° Aries	158	2.8°
14 Jul 2029	11.1° Aries	19 Dec 2029	8.3° Aries	158	2.8°
16 Jul 2030	13.3° Aries	21 Dec 2030	10.5° Aries	158	2.8°
19 Jul 2031	15.6° Aries	24 Dec 2031	12.8° Aries	158	2.8°

Neptune's sign changes

Neptune sign changes, computed
Date	Enters	Motion
23 May 2038	Taurus	moving direct
22 Oct 2038	Aries	crossing back while retrograde
24 Mar 2039	Taurus	moving direct
17 Jul 2051	Gemini	moving direct
23 Oct 2051	Taurus	crossing back while retrograde
13 May 2052	Gemini	moving direct

Neptune to each natal point

Each page carries its own computed windows, recurrence interval and retrograde-pass distribution.

Neptune square Mercury

How Neptune appears in Cosmic KPI

Neptune is the hardest contact to see without an instrument: over two years the pressure timeline shows it as a raised floor rather than an event, which is precisely the shape a reader misses when they are looking for a date. Cosmic KPI dates the crossings and shows the floor they sit on.

The Cosmic KPI transit terminal listing live transit contacts with their orb readings.

Common questions

How long does a Neptune transit last?: A median 186 days at the 3° envelope, and the longest tenth run past 775 days. That is the practical difference between Neptune and the faster planets: there is no day on which it happens, only a stretch of a year or two in which it is true.
How many times does Neptune hit the same degree?: Three or five, never one — 14 of 19 sampled contacts crossed three times and 5 crossed five. The count is always odd, because the body enters and leaves the contact point from opposite sides.
How often does Neptune retrograde?: Once a year, for about 158 days, retracing 2.8°. Neptune covers only around two degrees a year going forward, so that small loop is enough to re-cross anything it has just passed.
How long is Neptune in one sign?: About fourteen years. The ingress table below is computed rather than divided out of the orbit, and it includes the re-ingresses a retrograde produces when Neptune crosses back over a sign boundary.

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