Exact ephemeris dates for every sign Mars occupies in 2026, with entry and exit times, retrograde stations and combustion windows. Mars stays about six to seven weeks per sign.
📍Dates shown for Chennai, India🕒Time zone Asia/Kolkata
Change your location in the header to see the same dates on your city clock — no recalculation needed.
Signs transited
9
Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo
Sign changes
8
First on 16 January 2026
Retrograde stations
0
Times Mars turns back
Combustion windows
3
Mars hidden in Sun glare
Mars transit dates in 2026
•Mars is in Sagittarius from 7 December 2025 to 16 January 2026 (1 month). Mars entered Sagittarius before this year and stays until 16 January 2026.
•Mars is in Capricorn from 16 January 2026 to 23 February 2026 (1 month). Mars enters and leaves Capricorn within this year.
•Mars is in Aquarius from 23 February 2026 to 2 April 2026 (1 month). Mars enters and leaves Aquarius within this year.
•Mars is in Pisces from 2 April 2026 to 11 May 2026 (1 month). Mars enters and leaves Pisces within this year.
•Mars is in Aries from 11 May 2026 to 20 June 2026 (1 month). Mars enters and leaves Aries within this year.
•Mars is in Taurus from 20 June 2026 to 2 August 2026 (1 month). Mars enters and leaves Taurus within this year.
•Mars is in Gemini from 2 August 2026 to 18 September 2026 (2 months). Mars enters and leaves Gemini within this year.
•Mars is in Cancer from 18 September 2026 to 12 November 2026 (2 months). Mars enters and leaves Cancer within this year.
•Mars is in Leo from 12 November 2026 to 10 March 2027 (4 months). Mars enters Leo and remains there into 2027.
Dates are calculated once from the ephemeris and displayed in your local time zone. A sign listed twice is a retrograde step back into the earlier sign, not a second separate transit.
Mars sign changes in 2026
Each row is one continuous period in a single sign. Mars slows down and appears to reverse direction partway through, so a sign can appear twice.
Mars transit sign changes with entry and exit dates in 2026
Sign
Enters
Leaves
Duration
Notes
Sagittarius
1 month
Combust partBegan in 2025
Capricorn
1 month
Combust part
Aquarius
1 month
Combust part
Pisces
1 month
Direct
Aries
1 month
Direct
Taurus
1 month
Direct
Gemini
2 months
Direct
Cancer
2 months
Direct
Leo
4 months
Retrograde partEnds in 2027
Mars sign, month by month in 2026
A quick month-by-month view. Highlighted rows are the months in which Mars changes sign.
Mars zodiac sign in each month of 2026
Month
Mars in
Sign change
Station
Combust
Jan
SagittariusCapricorn
to Capricorn on
No
Combust
Feb
CapricornAquarius
to Aquarius on
No
Combust
Mar
Aquarius
No
No
Combust
Apr
AquariusPisces
to Pisces on
No
No
May
PiscesAries
to Aries on
No
No
Jun
AriesTaurus
to Taurus on
No
No
Jul
Taurus
No
No
No
Aug
TaurusGemini
to Gemini on
No
No
Sep
GeminiCancer
to Cancer on
No
No
Oct
Cancer
No
No
No
Nov
CancerLeo
to Leo on
No
No
Dec
Leo
No
No
No
Mars combustion periods in 2026
Mars is combust when it passes too close to the Sun to be seen. Traditional astrology treats a combust Mars as weakened.
Mars combustion periods in 2026
Starts
Ends
Duration
Sign
5 months
Scorpio → Aquarius
5 months
Scorpio → Aquarius
5 months
Scorpio → Aquarius
Which house Mars sits in, from your Moon sign
Find your birth Moon sign on the left. Read across to see which house Mars occupies
that year. In 2026 Mars moves through Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces.
House occupied by Mars from each birth Moon sign during 2026
Your birth Moon sign
Mars in Aries
Mars in Taurus
Mars in Gemini
Mars in Cancer
Mars in Leo
Mars in Sagittarius
Mars in Capricorn
Mars in Aquarius
Mars in Pisces
Aries
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
Taurus
12th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
Gemini
11th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
7th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
Cancer
10th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
6th house
7th house
8th house
9th house
Leo
9th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
5th house
6th house
7th house
8th house
Virgo
8th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
4th house
5th house
6th house
7th house
Libra
7th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
11th house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
6th house
Scorpio
6th house
7th house
8th house
9th house
10th house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
Sagittarius
5th house
6th house
7th house
8th house
9th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
Capricorn
4th house
5th house
6th house
7th house
8th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
3rd house
Aquarius
3rd house
4th house
5th house
6th house
7th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
2nd house
Pisces
2nd house
3rd house
4th house
5th house
6th house
10th house
11th house
12th house
1st house
Read it as: “if my Moon sign is Aries, then when Mars is in
Aries it sits in my 1st house.”
The 1st house is your Moon sign itself, the 7th is the opposite sign, and the 10th is the sign
three places after it.
Mangala and the Mangal Dosha question
Mars takes around 45 days to cross a sign and completes a cycle in about two years. Mangal Dosha, or Kuja Dosha, is traditionally assessed from the Moon sign and then checked against Lagna and Navamsa, so the Mars sign-change dates on this page are the calendar those checks are made against.
How Mangal Dosha is decided
A chart carries Mangal Dosha when Mars occupies the 1st, 4th, 7th or 8th house from the relevant reference point. It is a placement test on the birth chart rather than a transit test, but transits are used to decide when the dosha is activated or cancelled.
What Mars rules
Mars is the karaka for courage, energy, siblings, land, vehicles, surgery and dispute. It is strongest in Aries, its own sign, and in Scorpio, where it is exalted. Read Mars transits against the houses it occupies from your ascendant to see where effort and friction are directed.
Mars transit questions
How long does Mars stay in one sign?
Roughly six to seven weeks on average, so Mars changes sign five or six times a year. The exact dates for the selected year are in the table above.
How do I check Mangal Dosha using these dates?
Mangal Dosha is a birth-chart test, not a transit test. Generate your free Kundli to see whether Mars sits in the 1st, 4th, 7th or 8th from Lagna, Moon and Navamsa, then use these dates to see when Mars activates or cancels it.
Does Mars go retrograde?
Mars turns retrograde roughly once every two years for about two to three months. Retrograde station dates for the selected year are listed when the ephemeris reports one.
Are these transit dates the same for every city?
Yes. The instant a body changes sign is an astronomical fact, not a local one, so the underlying UTC date is identical everywhere on Earth. This page converts those instants to your selected city for display, so changing your location changes the clock time you see but never the date, and never triggers a new calculation.
Enter your birth date, time and place to see Mars’s sign, house and Nakshatra, the running Dasha period, and every transit currently affecting your chart.