When Was Pluto Last in Capricorn?
Updated October 5, 2026
As of October 2026, the last time was 2008–24: Pluto first entered Capricorn on 26 January 2008 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 19 November 2024. Next: Pluto first enters Capricorn on 28 February 2254; retrograde motion carries it back and forth across the sign's boundary, so it enters five times in all and leaves for good on 20 November 2270.
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 Pluto-in-Capricorn pass, 1600–2800
Dates are in UTC and the Gregorian calendar; in a time zone far from Greenwich an ingress can fall on the neighbouring calendar day.
| First entry | Final exit | Time in Capricorn | Entered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 January 1762 | 1 December 1778 | 16 years | 4 times |
| In Capricorn: 7 Jan 1762 – 8 Jul 1762 · 9 Nov 1762 – 4 Apr 1777 · 28 May 1777 – 26 Jan 1778 · 21 Aug 1778 – 1 Dec 1778 | |||
| 26 January 2008 | 19 November 2024 | 16 years | 4 times |
| In Capricorn: 26 Jan 2008 – 14 Jun 2008 · 27 Nov 2008 – 23 Mar 2023 · 11 Jun 2023 – 21 Jan 2024 · 1 Sept 2024 – 19 Nov 2024 | |||
| 28 February 2254 | 20 November 2270 | 15 years | 5 times |
| In Capricorn: 28 Feb 2254 – 5 May 2254 · 20 Dec 2254 – 16 Aug 2255 · 6 Oct 2255 – 25 Mar 2269 · 8 Jun 2269 – 21 Jan 2270 · 2 Sept 2270 – 20 Nov 2270 | |||
| 23 January 2501 | 7 December 2516 | 15 years | 3 times |
| In Capricorn: 23 Jan 2501 – 17 Jun 2501 · 24 Nov 2501 – 2 Feb 2516 · 12 Aug 2516 – 7 Dec 2516 | |||
| 4 January 2748 | 27 December 2762 | 14 years | 3 times |
| In Capricorn: 4 Jan 2748 – 17 Jul 2748 · 31 Oct 2748 – 21 Feb 2762 · 18 Jul 2762 – 27 Dec 2762 | |||
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Born with Pluto in Capricorn
- Born 26 January 2008 – 19 November 2024, except 14 June 2008 – 27 November 2008 (in Sagittarius), 23 March 2023 – 11 June 2023 (in Aquarius) and 21 January 2024 – 1 September 2024 (in Aquarius)
On the days Pluto changes sign, the birth time decides: dates here are UTC. Enter your birth data to see your own chart.
Pluto retrograde in Capricorn, the 2008–24 pass
Retrograde periods with at least one station in Capricorn: the date Pluto stood still and turned retrograde, and the date it turned direct again.
| Stations retrograde | Stations direct |
|---|---|
| 2 April 2008 1°08′ Capricorn | 9 September 2008 28°29′ Sagittarius |
| 4 April 2009 3°18′ Capricorn | 11 September 2009 0°39′ Capricorn |
| 7 April 2010 5°25′ Capricorn | 14 September 2010 2°47′ Capricorn |
| 9 April 2011 7°30′ Capricorn | 16 September 2011 4°53′ Capricorn |
| 10 April 2012 9°33′ Capricorn | 18 September 2012 6°57′ Capricorn |
| 12 April 2013 11°35′ Capricorn | 20 September 2013 8°59′ Capricorn |
| 14 April 2014 13°34′ Capricorn | 23 September 2014 10°59′ Capricorn |
| 17 April 2015 15°32′ Capricorn | 25 September 2015 12°58′ Capricorn |
| 18 April 2016 17°29′ Capricorn | 26 September 2016 14°55′ Capricorn |
| 20 April 2017 19°23′ Capricorn | 28 September 2017 16°51′ Capricorn |
| 22 April 2018 21°17′ Capricorn | 1 October 2018 18°45′ Capricorn |
| 24 April 2019 23°09′ Capricorn | 3 October 2019 20°37′ Capricorn |
| 25 April 2020 24°59′ Capricorn | 4 October 2020 22°29′ Capricorn |
| 27 April 2021 26°48′ Capricorn | 6 October 2021 24°18′ Capricorn |
| 29 April 2022 28°35′ Capricorn | 8 October 2022 26°06′ Capricorn |
| 1 May 2023 0°21′ Aquarius | 11 October 2023 27°53′ Capricorn |
| 2 May 2024 2°06′ Aquarius | 12 October 2024 29°38′ Capricorn |
Pluto in Capricorn: context
Pluto has no place in the Hellenistic scheme. It was discovered in 1930, and on 24 August 2006 the International Astronomical Union reclassified it as a dwarf planet, less than two years before this pass began. Traditionally Capricorn is a house of Saturn; Mars is exalted there, at 28°, and Jupiter depressed (Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos I.17, I.19; Dorotheus, Carmen Astrologicum I.2).
On 4 July 1776, the day the Declaration of Independence was adopted, Pluto stood at about 27°33′ Capricorn, late in its previous pass. It returned to that longitude three times in 2022, in February, July and December. Astrologers call this the United States' Pluto return. Pluto moves so slowly that the hour chosen for the national chart hardly matters: it shifts the 2022 dates by a day at most.
Sources: International Astronomical Union, General Assembly, Prague, 24 August 2006; Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos I.17, I.19, trans. F. E. Robbins (Loeb, 1940); Dorotheus, Carmen Astrologicum I.2, trans. D. Pingree (Teubner, 1976); Catherine Urban, "The Shadow in the Mirror: The Pluto Return of the United States" (2021); Positions computed with Astronomy Engine; 1776 checked against NASA JPL Horizons
How Pluto moves through the zodiac
Across 1600–2800, Pluto spent about 12 years to 32 years in a sign on each pass, not counting retrograde dips out of it, and it returned to the same sign about every 246 years. 100% of passes included at least one retrograde dip back over a sign boundary.
Pluto in other signs
Aries · Taurus · Gemini · Cancer · Leo · Virgo · Libra · Scorpio · Sagittarius · Capricorn · Aquarius · Pisces
Other planets in Capricorn
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: Pluto'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 an hour for 2023–43, about three hours for the 1850s–80s and about 15 hours for the 1770s: Pluto moves so slowly that a sliver of an arcminute in position becomes hours in time. Pluto comes from an integrated orbit that is reliable from about 1 CE to 3999 CE. Data generated 2026-10-04; page built 2026-10-05.