Understanding Transit Degrees & Tracking Pluto Through 2045

When will you feel a Pluto transit, and how long will it last? (Apply this math to any transit, at any time!)

Hiya, witchy kids!

I’d love to start by thanking you for how collaborative this process feels. When you let me know what interests you & what you need support with, it’s my privilege to distill it down into tangible tools. 

With Pluto shifting into Aquarius, I’m hearing from a lot of you over on my Instagram reel ask about calculating degrees and how to know when you’ll feel Pluto pass by:

I’m going to use Pluto as an example for calculating transit degrees, but you can apply this same math to any other planet!

Degrees are how we measure the distance a planet travels in your birth chart. 

Imagine your friend (any planet) is on a road trip (transit) to come and see you. You’re tracking her location on the “find my friends” app (birth chart). You can see when she crosses state lines (houses), going town by town (sign by sign)… but she is still hours away (transits can take decades to reach you).

You know she’s headed your way (enters a sign you have placements in), you just can’t see or feel her yet. Eventually the car approaches; she’s turning down your street (closer in degree). You feel her presence as she gets out of the car, (within 3 degrees) and she runs up the stairs to hug you. She stays at your house (exact degree!) a predetermined amount of time, and you’re deeply connecting in this shared space. When it is time for her to go, you walk her back down to the curb, and then she gets in her car, (separating 3 degrees) as you feel her less and less until your house has disappeared from her rearview mirror.

She drives down the block again onto her next destination (a later degree than yours) but sometimes she forgets stuff at your house and drives back (retrograde), extending her trip — but don’t blame her if she overstays her welcome; you both probably needed that extra time together.

This is how transits work. For as deliciously interpretive as astrology can be, it’s also mathematical. (Nothing we can’t handle, says the Pisces stellium. If I figured it out, so can you!)

What constitutes a degree range?

3 degrees before and 3 degrees after a natal placement is the “impact radius” when you’ll feel it the most, for any planet or transit. Remember every sign moves 0-29. We count 0! Some astrologers shorten Pluto transits to a 2-degree range to make the window smaller, but that’s discretionary and you’ll know whether you still feel it or not. In my last Pluto transit (a square to my moon), I felt it for a solid 3 years.

Back up, what’s a transit? How do I know what Pluto will touch in my chart?

Having a planet in the same sign of a transiting planet (conjunction), in the same mode (oppositions and squares), same element (trines), and compatible element (sextiles) are easiest and most important to track.

With Pluto in Aquarius, you’ll feel it if you have:

[In order of significance]

Aquarius placement conjunctions (this area of life is getting initiated into a new era of rebirth and transformation)
Leo placement oppositions (you’re reviewing how you take up space in the world)
Taurus placement squares (examining resistance to change + loosening your grip on life)
Scorpio placement squares (freeing yourself from limiting beliefs + situations)
Gemini placement trines (supported in overcoming distraction, getting laser focused)
Libra placement trines (supported in zooming out and setting boundaries)
Aries placement sextiles (motivated to strike out powerfully on your own path)
Sagittarius placement sextiles (motivated to double down on your joy)

What it’s transiting, matters

It’s the personal planets and angles we’ll feel the most. (Sun, Moon, Rising, MC, IC, DC, North Node, South Node, Chiron, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter for good measure). Outer planets getting transited (Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto) do impact our larger life themes and directions, but not the inner gooey personal work.

How important is the house?

Click here for my soapbox explanation between Placidus and Whole Sign and houses in general. Since Pluto only moves 1-2 degrees a year, Pluto traversing a house is a looooong theme. Not irrelevant, just more impactful in retrospect. Personal transformation over the course of decades is focused there, even in empty houses.

What if it retrogrades to a degree earlier than my orb of 3?

I believe once a planet enters your energetic field of awareness, even if it goes retrograde out of degree again, the initiation has started. It will not let up until it crosses over the finish line at that furthest degree.

The slower the planet, the longer the transit. Pluto being the slowest means it can take 3-5 years to clear that radius completely! Retrograde slows it down and stretches out the time it takes to move forward fully. 

Okay but how do I find the degrees in my chart?

How do I know when Pluto will enter and exit a 3 degree radius of those placements?

An ephemeris records the movement of each planet on every day, throughout history. It’s how astrologers track transits. You can literally just Google “2024 ephemeris” and click on the astro.com PDF to see where the planets are vibing this year.

I’ve gone ahead and identified the peak (highest degree) Pluto reaches each year until 2045, to give you an eyeball timeline.

For example, a Sun at 3 degrees Scorpio will feel a square while Pluto travels in fellow fixed sign Aquarius between 0 and 6. We must identify the years Pluto traverses those degrees while in Aquarius. 3 before and 3 after the natal Sun. Simple addition, right? That would mean 2024-2027 is an approximate range. Remember… Pluto goes retrograde often, so double check the ephemeris to make sure it doesn’t sneak backwards. In this case, actually it takes until 2028 to be clear of 6 degrees fully.

If you had a 25 degree Aquarius sun, you wouldn’t start feeling it personally on top of you until 22 degrees around 2037, lasting until 28 degrees around 2041.

Pluto progress report: 

2024: peaks at 2 degrees
2025: peaks at 3 degrees 
2026: peaks at 5 degrees
2027: peaks at 7 degrees
2028: peaks at 8 degrees 
2029: peaks at 10 degrees 
2030: peaks at 12 degrees
2031: peaks at 13 degrees
2032: peaks at 15 degrees
2033: peaks at 16 degrees
2034: peaks at 18 degrees 
2035: peaks at 19 degrees
2036: peaks at 21 degrees
2037: peaks at 22 degrees
2038: peaks at 24 degrees
2039: peaks at 25 degrees
2040: peaks at 27 degrees
2041: peaks at 28 degrees
2042: peaks at 29 degrees 
2043: peaks at 1 Pisces, back to 29 Aquarius 
2044: peaks at 2 Pisces 
2045: peaks at 4 Pisces, ends year at 2
January 2046, a final 29 degree fixed placement finally gets relief past 2 degrees Pisces. (0, 1, 2 — exits that 3 range.)

I hope this empowers you to track your transits with greater ease. If you ever want to reflect it back with me, I can double check your math by booking a reading here.

To the moon and back (pun intended),
Ocean Pleasant @witchykid