posted April 12, 2012 10:04 AM            

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Originally posted by neptunicity:
I already know what degrees are in astrology, but i'm still confused regarding orbs. What are they and what's their purpose? I read before that they are used to measure the impact of influence an aspect has over a birth chart or a synastry chart. It also determines whether an aspect is a conjunction, opposition, square, sextile or trine. Correct me if i'm wrong. So with that said, i also read that even if you have a certain aspect, the effect will only be significant if the orb is no more than 3 degrees. Greater than 3 degrees, then that aspect's impact is not felt that much. Is that true? And how about for birth charts? Does it have to be not above a certain number, because if it's past the designated degree, then that aspect's energies and influences aren't felt that much? Kindly enlighten me here. Thank you in advance.

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posted April 12, 2012 11:30 AM            

I've been wondering about orbs myself, such as how one decides what is appropriate to use. I understand that this is partly up to the astrologer's preference. Obviously, an aspect with a tight orb would be weighted as being of greater importance, and considered first.

However, besides depending on the aspect (such as whether or not it is a major or minor one), doesn't it also depend on the (prominence of the) planets making the aspect?

For example, the luminaries (Sun and Moon) being allowed a greater orb than the other personal planets, which in turn are allowed a greater orb than the outer/generational planets. This would also correlate with the planet's speed - the idea being that the faster planets may well have been moments away from becoming exact. I don't know if I'm explaining myself clearly, but words like 'potential', 'velocity' and 'momentum' come to mind.

What about where it involves angles, points, and asteroids?

posted April 12, 2012 11:39 AM            

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Originally posted by atlantis:
I've been wondering about orbs myself, such as how one decides what is appropriate to use. I understand that this is partly up to the astrologer's preference. Obviously, an aspect with a tight orb would be weighted as being of greater importance, and considered first.

However, besides depending on the aspect (such as whether or not it is a major or minor one), doesn't it also depend on the (prominence of the) planets making the aspect?

For example, the luminaries (Sun and Moon) being allowed a greater orb than the other personal planets, which in turn are allowed a greater orb than the outer/generational planets. This would also correlate with the planet's speed - the idea being that the faster planets may well have been moments away from becoming exact. I don't know if I'm explaining myself clearly, but words like 'potential', 'velocity' and 'momentum' come to mind.

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This is an excellent point, atlantis!

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Originally posted by atlantis:
I remember reading somewhere that the orbs on Astro.com's chart generator is too wide, and that people should reduce it to at least 80-85%.

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posted April 12, 2012 12:12 PM            

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Originally posted by Aquacheeka:

This certainly explains something that had me puzzled this week. According to astro.com, I have a Venus-Mars square out-of-sign with an orb of 7 degrees. But it could also be interpreted as a Venus-Mars sextile by sign but not by aspect. I don't know whether to count it as a square or not! I think cafeastrology did not include it in my natal chart interpretation.

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posted April 12, 2012 12:22 PM            

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Originally posted by atlantis:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Aquacheeka:
[b]
This certainly explains something that had me puzzled this week. According to astro.com, I have a Venus-Mars square out-of-sign with an orb of 7 degrees. But it could also be interpreted as a Venus-Mars sextile by sign but not by aspect. I don't know whether to count it as a square or not! I think cafeastrology did not include it in my natal chart interpretation.

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posted April 12, 2012 12:23 PM            

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IMO, aspects between planets et al. trump aspects between signs.

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Sorry to butt into your convo neptunicity, if this isn't on your topic but:

Would you say two planets who are in generally squaring signs but not aspected by degree/orb as being square still has the "feeling" of being square, only not as strong as it would if they were aspected by degree/orb?

posted April 12, 2012 01:33 PM            

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Originally posted by Sashar:
Would you say two planets who are in generally squaring signs but not aspected by degree/orb as being square still has the "feeling" of being square, only not as strong as it would if they were aspected by degree/orb?

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posted April 15, 2012 01:05 PM            

Welcome

Generally Astro.com is accurate and used by most here but I think I knnow what you are talking about. I once tried to create a chart for a friend and her birth data came up different a coupe of times with the same info, I dont really know what that was, maybe a glitch. Even if you are unaware of your Place of birth and you try to fill in different places from east to west it is not possible for your Ascendant placement to fluctuate in a 150 degree range (Gem to Aqua.) given that the rest of your birth info is correct.

Idk it may just be a glitch but most likely Astro.com is accurate. Try this http://www.astrowin.org/astro123.php

This was posted by Sand here recently. If you have any questions with it let me know, or even Sand, I'm sure he wont mind. It should give you the correct birth chart info given that your info is accurate.

posted April 15, 2012 06:23 PM            

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Originally posted by sand:
Has anyone tried increasing to 110 or 120% to see what aspects popped up?

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posted April 15, 2012 06:55 PM            

Sun conj Venus
Moon square Saturn
Moon trine mars
Moon trine Uranus

posted April 15, 2012 09:06 PM            

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Originally posted by neptunicity:
The ascendant is the only part that is wrong though. All the other stuff like moon, venus, mars sign, etc. are consistent with all the other sites that i tried. When i was reading the ascendant table in serendipity-astrolovers.com, it said that the charts tend to be accurate for the people who live in the US and the carribean islands. I live in asia, so maybe that's why my ascendant wavers between gemini and aquarius.

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posted April 15, 2012 11:32 PM            

The tighter the orb, the stronger the aspect (which, subsequently, the more pronounced effect).

0°00' Orb = Exact aspect (most powerful)
Under 1°00' Orb = Powerful, should be taken notice of
3°00' Orb = Normal, tighter
5°00' Orb = Normal, looser
8°00' Orb = Loose
10°00' Orb = Very loose, relatively weak effects

Your mileage may vary.

posted April 17, 2012 09:58 PM            

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Originally posted by violet7887:
Hi Neptunicity,

Welcome

Generally Astro.com is accurate and used by most here but I think I knnow what you are talking about. I once tried to create a chart for a friend and her birth data came up different a coupe of times with the same info, I dont really know what that was, maybe a glitch. Even if you are unaware of your Place of birth and you try to fill in different places from east to west it is not possible for your Ascendant placement to fluctuate in a 150 degree range (Gem to Aqua.) given that the rest of your birth info is correct.

Idk it may just be a glitch but most likely Astro.com is accurate. Try this http://www.astrowin.org/astro123.php

This was posted by Sand here recently. If you have any questions with it let me know, or even Sand, I'm sure he wont mind. It should give you the correct birth chart info given that your info is accurate.

Oh and about the orbs, generally I have heard to reduce the orb to 40%. What you can do though is start at 5% orb and move up by 5 to see what aspects manifest strongest in your chart.

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Thank you very much for the link, i downloaded the software, and my ascendant turned out to be aquarius. I knew i couldn't be a gemini, lol. A great majority of people told me that their 1st impression of me was that i'm "aloof", i look "snobbish" and "unapproachable" and somewhat "detached". So i couldn't identify at all with the gemini ascendant. So i've come to the conclusion that astro.com is accurate for US residents, but if you were born outside the US, use cafeastrology.com instead. Regarding the orbs, i haven't studied that part yet where you can increase it, so i still have to research about that. And by the way, i saw some of my degrees typed as negative, while using the astro123 software. For example, "sun trine saturn -1.1" and when i get to the part where saturn comes first, it said "saturn trine sun 1.1" So i was wondering what the negative sign meant in the degrees?