Western Planets API

Western Planets

Returns the tropical planetary positions for a Western natal astrology chart — the foundational data layer for Western astrological analysis. This endpoint computes the precise positions of all major planets and points in the tropical zodiac based on the individual's birth details, providing the core dataset from which all Western natal chart interpretations, aspect calculations, house placements, and predictive techniques are derived.

What This API Does

This endpoint accepts an individual's birth details (date, time, and geographic coordinates) and computes the tropical longitude, zodiac sign, degree, and house placement of all planets and significant points in the Western natal chart. Unlike the Vedic planetary endpoints which use sidereal calculations, this endpoint uses the tropical zodiac — the standard reference frame for Western astrology — where the vernal equinox is fixed at 0° Aries. The house system used for house placement calculations is configurable via the X-House-Type header, supporting the full range of Western house systems (Placidus, Koch, Whole Sign, Equal, Campanus, Regiomontanus, and others). The lunar node type (mean or true) is configurable via the X-Node-Type header. The endpoint returns a complete planetary position dataset covering all ten traditional planets plus the lunar nodes, Chiron, and other significant points depending on configuration.

Data Returned

The response provides a comprehensive set of tropical planetary position data for the natal chart:

• Planetary positions — the tropical zodiac sign, degree, and minute of arc for each planet and significant point, including Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto

• Lunar nodes — the positions of the North Node (Rahu) and South Node (Ketu) in the tropical zodiac, calculated as either mean or true nodes based on the X-Node-Type header

• Chiron — the position of Chiron (the wounded healer asteroid) in the tropical zodiac, a standard inclusion in modern Western natal charts

• House placements — the house number each planet occupies in the natal chart, calculated according to the house system specified via the X-House-Type header

• Retrograde status — whether each planet is retrograde at the time of birth, a key interpretive factor in Western natal analysis

• Speed and motion data — the daily motion of each planet at the time of birth, indicating whether a planet is direct, stationary, or retrograde and how fast it is moving

• Declination — the celestial declination of each planet, used in out-of-bounds planet analysis and parallel/contraparallel aspect calculations in Western astrology

• House cusp positions — the tropical zodiac degree of each house cusp calculated according to the specified house system, providing the complete house framework for the natal chart

• Ascendant and Midheaven — the precise tropical degree of the Ascendant (1st house cusp) and Midheaven (10th house cusp), the two most significant angles in the Western natal chart

Main Use Cases

• Western natal chart generation — computing the complete tropical planetary position dataset as the foundational layer for generating a full Western natal chart, from which all further analysis (aspects, house interpretations, transits, progressions) is derived

• Astrology platforms and apps offering Western astrology — powering natal chart features that display planetary positions in the tropical zodiac with house placements according to the user's preferred house system

• Aspect calculation — using the tropical planetary longitudes as the input for computing natal aspects (conjunctions, oppositions, trines, squares, sextiles, and minor aspects) between planets

• Transit and progression analysis — using the natal planetary positions as the reference baseline against which transiting or progressed planets are compared for predictive analysis

• Multi-house-system support — leveraging the configurable X-House-Type header to generate planetary house placements under any of the major Western house systems, enabling platforms to support user preference for Placidus, Koch, Whole Sign, Equal, or other systems

• Comparative Western/Vedic analysis — using this endpoint alongside the Vedic planetary position endpoints to compare a person's tropical and sidereal chart positions, supporting practitioners who work with both systems

• Chart data export and visualization — providing the structured planetary position data needed to render natal chart wheels, tables, and other visual representations in Western astrology applications

Key Functionality

• Computes planetary positions in the tropical zodiac — the standard Western astrological reference frame fixed to the vernal equinox at 0° Aries — as distinct from the sidereal zodiac used in Vedic astrology endpoints

• Supports a configurable house system via the X-House-Type header, enabling house placement calculations under any of the major Western house division methods (Placidus, Koch, Whole Sign, Equal House, Campanus, Regiomontanus, Porphyry, and others) in a single endpoint

• Supports configurable lunar node type via the X-Node-Type header, allowing the caller to specify whether mean nodes or true nodes are used for the North and South Node positions — a common point of variation between Western astrologers

• Returns declination data for each planet alongside ecliptic longitude, supporting out-of-bounds planet analysis and parallel/contraparallel aspect work that is unique to Western astrological practice

• Includes Chiron as a standard output alongside the ten traditional planets and lunar nodes, reflecting modern Western astrology's inclusion of Chiron as a significant natal chart point

• Returns house cusp degrees for all twelve houses according to the specified house system, providing the complete house framework alongside the planetary positions in a single response

• Returns Ascendant and Midheaven degrees prominently as the primary chart angles, since these are the most interpretively significant points in the Western natal chart

• Accepts only birth details (date, time, latitude, longitude, and timezone) with no Ayanamsha calculation involved, since tropical positions are independent of sidereal reference frame — though the X-Ayanamsha header is accepted for consistency across the API suite

• Designed for localization — the Accept-Language header controls the language of zodiac sign names, planet names, house labels, and all descriptive content in the response

• Serves as the foundational data endpoint for the Western natal astrology section of the API, providing the planetary position dataset that all other Western astrology endpoints (aspects, chart images, interpretations, transits) depend on