When Was Neptune Last in Cancer?
Updated October 5, 2026
As of October 2026, the last time was 1901–16: Neptune first entered Cancer on 19 July 1901 and, because retrograde motion carried it back and forth across the sign's boundary, entered it four times in all before leaving for good on 2 May 1916. Next: Neptune first enters Cancer on 3 July 2065; retrograde motion carries it back and forth across the sign's boundary, so it enters three times in all and leaves for good on 3 July 2079.
Each bar runs from first entry to final exit. Stretches marked with a neighbouring sign are times it crossed back over the boundary before returning.
Every Neptune-in-Cancer pass, 1600–2600
Dates are in UTC and the Gregorian calendar; in a time zone far from Greenwich an ingress can fall on the neighbouring calendar day. Dates before 14 September 1752 are Gregorian too, though Britain and its colonies still used the Julian calendar, 10 days behind until 11 March 1700 and 11 days behind after, and began the year on 25 March.
| First entry | Final exit | Time in Cancer | Entered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 August 1737 | 31 May 1752 | 14 years | 3 times |
| In Cancer: 6 Aug 1737 – 2 Dec 1737 · 6 Jun 1738 – 2 Aug 1751 · 16 Feb 1752 – 31 May 1752 | |||
| 19 July 1901 | 2 May 1916 | 13 years | 4 times |
| In Cancer: 19 Jul 1901 – 25 Dec 1901 · 21 May 1902 – 23 Sept 1914 · 15 Dec 1914 – 19 Jul 1915 · 19 Mar 1916 – 2 May 1916 | |||
| 3 July 2065 | 3 July 2079 | 13 years | 3 times |
| In Cancer: 3 Jul 2065 – 14 Jan 2066 · 1 May 2066 – 1 Sept 2078 · 6 Jan 2079 – 3 Jul 2079 | |||
| 29 August 2228 | 18 June 2243 | 14 years | 4 times |
| In Cancer: 29 Aug 2228 – 7 Nov 2228 · 20 Jun 2229 – 9 Feb 2230 · 9 Apr 2230 – 17 Aug 2242 · 27 Jan 2243 – 18 Jun 2243 | |||
| 8 August 2392 | 1 June 2407 | 14 years | 3 times |
| In Cancer: 8 Aug 2392 – 29 Nov 2392 · 7 Jun 2393 – 3 Aug 2406 · 15 Feb 2407 – 1 Jun 2407 | |||
| 25 July 2556 | 10 May 2571 | 14 years | 4 times |
| In Cancer: 25 Jul 2556 – 16 Dec 2556 · 26 May 2557 – 28 Sept 2569 · 7 Dec 2569 – 21 Jul 2570 · 10 Mar 2571 – 10 May 2571 | |||
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Neptune retrograde in Cancer, the 2065–79 pass
Retrograde periods with at least one station in Cancer: the date Neptune stood still and turned retrograde, and the date it turned direct again.
| Stations retrograde | Stations direct |
|---|---|
| 4 October 2065 2°03′ Cancer | 10 March 2066 29°14′ Gemini |
| 7 October 2066 4°17′ Cancer | 12 March 2067 1°28′ Cancer |
| 9 October 2067 6°31′ Cancer | 13 March 2068 3°42′ Cancer |
| 10 October 2068 8°45′ Cancer | 16 March 2069 5°56′ Cancer |
| 13 October 2069 10°59′ Cancer | 18 March 2070 8°10′ Cancer |
| 15 October 2070 13°13′ Cancer | 21 March 2071 10°24′ Cancer |
| 18 October 2071 15°26′ Cancer | 22 March 2072 12°38′ Cancer |
| 20 October 2072 17°40′ Cancer | 25 March 2073 14°52′ Cancer |
| 22 October 2073 19°54′ Cancer | 27 March 2074 17°06′ Cancer |
| 25 October 2074 22°08′ Cancer | 30 March 2075 19°19′ Cancer |
| 27 October 2075 24°22′ Cancer | 31 March 2076 21°33′ Cancer |
| 28 October 2076 26°35′ Cancer | 3 April 2077 23°46′ Cancer |
| 31 October 2077 28°48′ Cancer | 5 April 2078 26°00′ Cancer |
| 2 November 2078 1°01′ Leo | 8 April 2079 28°13′ Cancer |
How Neptune moves through the zodiac
Across 1600–2600, Neptune spent about 13 years to 14 years in a sign on each pass, not counting retrograde dips out of it, and it returned to the same sign about every 164 years. 100% of passes included at least one retrograde dip back over a sign boundary.
Neptune in other signs
Aries · Taurus · Gemini · Cancer · Leo · Virgo · Libra · Scorpio · Sagittarius · Capricorn · Aquarius · Pisces
Other planets in Cancer
Venus · Mars · Jupiter · Saturn · Chiron · Uranus · Neptune · Pluto
All planets in all signs · How to read these dates
How these dates were found
With Horoskopos's sky search: Neptune's geocentric, apparent, tropical ecliptic longitude, computed with the open-source Astronomy Engine library, with each sign boundary found to the minute. Sample ingresses agree with NASA JPL's Horizons ephemeris to within about three hours. Data generated 2026-10-04; page built 2026-10-05.