Nakshatra Calculator
Find your birth star (janma nakshatra) and pada
Updated
Your nakshatra, or birth star, is the lunar mansion the Moon was passing through when you were born. There are 27, each 13 degrees 20 minutes wide, and each is split into four padas. Enter your date, time and place of birth to find yours.
Private by design: everything is calculated in your browser. Your birth details are not uploaded, stored or tracked. The only link out is the optional button below the result, which opens the Navagraha app with your details in its address, and only if you click it.
How the calculation works
The tool computes the Moon's sidereal longitude (Lahiri ayanamsa) at your birth moment and divides the zodiac into 27 equal arcs starting at 0 degrees Aries. The arc the Moon falls in is your nakshatra; each arc is divided into four padas of 3 degrees 20 minutes, which fix the exact quarter. The Moon travels about 13 degrees a day, so it spends roughly one day in each nakshatra, and a birth time is needed to be sure which one.
What the details mean
The nakshatra lord is the planet that rules it and starts your Vimshottari dasha. The deity describes its symbolic character. Gana (Deva, Manushya or Rakshasa) is the temperament used in marriage matching, the yoni animal is used for physical compatibility, and Nadi (Aadi, Madhya or Antya) is used for the health koota in guna milan. Each nakshatra also belongs to a rashi, and a nakshatra can straddle two signs.
For a fuller description of traits, remedies and the four padas, follow the link from your result to the nakshatra's own page.
Why the time of birth matters
Because the Moon covers a whole nakshatra in about a day, two people born on the same date can have different birth stars. If you do not know your birth time, tick the box and the calculator checks the whole day: when the Moon stays in one nakshatra it tells you so with certainty, and when it changes it shows both possibilities with the clock times at which each applies. The pada can change within a nakshatra even more often, roughly every six hours.
Accuracy and method
Every figure on this page is calculated in your browser with the same shared astrology library that powers the Navagraha app. Planet positions come from the astronomy-engine library (arc-second class accuracy for the Sun and Moon) and are shifted to the sidereal zodiac with the Lahiri (Chitrapaksha) ayanamsa, the standard used by the Government of India and by the Swiss Ephemeris. In practice this agrees with Swiss Ephemeris results for signs, nakshatras and padas, apart from the rare case where a planet sits within a few arc-seconds of a boundary.
Rahu and Ketu use the true node, as in the app; many printed almanacs use the mean node, which can differ by up to about 1.7 degrees. Houses are whole-sign. Vimshottari dasha years are 365.25 days long. If you compare with another site and see a small difference, the node type, the ayanamsa or the birth-time rounding is almost always the reason.
Related guides and tools
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my nakshatra by date of birth?
Enter your date, time and place of birth. The calculator finds the Moon's sidereal position at that moment and reports the nakshatra and pada it falls in.
Can I find my nakshatra without a birth time?
Often yes. If the Moon does not change nakshatra on your birth date the answer is certain; if it does, both possibilities are shown with the times at which they apply.
Why does a name-letter chart give a different nakshatra?
Name-based charts use the syllables assigned to each pada, not your birth Moon. The janma nakshatra from your birth moment is the authoritative one in Vedic astrology.
What is a pada?
A pada is a quarter of a nakshatra, 3 degrees 20 minutes wide. Each pada corresponds to one navamsa sign and has its own flavour.
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