How to calculate a birth chart
Four details. One natal chart. Free, and not a sun-sign horoscope.
A birth chart, also called a natal chart, is a map of the sky at the moment and place you were born. Date, time and location are enough to plot the Sun, Moon, planets, houses and aspects. Astro Codes does that calculation from an ephemeris, then writes what the placements mean.
The steps
- Enter your birth date. The date sets the Sun sign and the rough positions of the slower planets.
- Add the birth time if you have it. Time is what makes the rising sign, houses, Midheaven and Moon degree precise. Without it, Astro Codes still plots the planets and marks Rising as needing a time.
- Pick the city of birth. Type a city and choose the match. Coordinates and timezone come from that place, so the local clock is converted correctly.
- Read the chart. You get every planet in sign and house, the major aspects, and written natal meanings. Today by sun sign is a separate sketch of the current sky.
Open the free birth chart calculator when you have those details. City search is enough. You do not need coordinates.
Natal chart vs birth chart
They are the same object. "Natal" is the astrologer's word; "birth chart" is the search. A natal chart calculator that only asks for a star sign is not calculating a natal chart.
Questions
Is a natal chart the same as a birth chart?
Yes. Natal chart and birth chart are the same map: the sky at the moment and place you were born. Astro Codes uses both names for one calculator.
Can I calculate a chart without a birth time?
You can still get planetary signs. Rising sign and houses need a recorded time. The calculator will not invent an ascendant.
Is this a Moon sign or rising sign calculator?
It is a full natal chart calculator. Moon sign and rising sign are placements on that chart, not separate products.
Next: cast your chart · what a natal chart is · Sun sign vs rising sign