2016 Mercury Retrograde Calendar

The Mercury Retrograde Cycle

Mercury Retrograde is that period of time in which the Planet Mercury appears to be going backwards against the stars in the sky. This usually occurs 3 or sometimes even 4 times in a year.

Why does Mercury appear to go backwards?

Mercury's orbit is closest to the sun, so it completes its orbit in about 88 days, compared to the earth's of about 365 days. As a result, from our perspective we first experience mercury moving forwards as it passes by the earth on our side of the sun, and then it seems to slow down and begin to move backwards as it races along on the farther side of the sun from our perspective.

The Full description of each cycle is found here

Please note that this calendar begins on a Monday

2016 Mercury Retrograde in Aquarius

The first Mercury Retrograde for 2016 occurs in the sign Aquarius (1^o 3" ) on January 5 at 1:05 pm Greenwich or Universal Time, 8:05 am Eastern Time and 5:05 am Pacific Time.

Mercury enters Direct Station in Capricorn (14^o 55") on January 25 at 9:50 pm Universal Time, 4:50 pm Eastern Time and 1:50 pm Pacific Time.

Mercury first enters the Pre-Shadow on Dec 19 2015, the previous year, and is last in the Post-Shadow  on Feb 14 2016.

2016 Mercury Retrograde in Taurus

The second Mercury Retrograde of 2016 occurs in Taurus (23^o 36") on April 28 at 5:20 pm Universal Time, 1:20 pm Eastern Daylight Time and at 10:20 pm Pacific Daylight Time.

Mercury goes direct in Taurus (14^o 20 minutes of arc) on May 22 at 1:20 pm Universal Time, 9:20 am Eastern Daylight Time and 6:20 am Pacific Daylight Time.

Mercury enters the Pre-Shadow on April 14 and is last in the Post-Shadow on June 7.

2016 Mercury Retrograde in Virgo

Quite a few people remarked how the second half of the May 2015 Mercury Retrograde in Gemini had quite a punch. Since Mercury also rules the 2016 Mercury Retrograde in Virgo, it should prove interesting.

The third Mercury Retrograde Cycle of 2016 occurs in Virgo (29^o 05") on August 30 at 1:04 pm Universal Time, 9:04am Eastern Daylight Time and 6:04 am Pacific Daylight Time.

Mercury goes direct in Virgo (14^o 49") on September 22 at 5:30 am Greenwich or Universal Time, and 1:30 am Eastern Daylight Time, 10:30 pm, September 21,  Pacific Daylight Time.

Mercury enters the Pre-Shadow August 10 and is last in the Post-Shadow on October 6.

2016 Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn

The fourth Mercury Retrograde Cycle of 2016 occurs in Capricorn (15^o 08") on December 19 at 10:56 am Universal Time, 5:56 am Eastern Time and 2:56 am Pacific Time.

Mercury goes direct in Sagittarius (28^o 51") on January 8, 2017 at 9:43 am Greenwich or Universal Time, and 4:43 am Eastern Time, 1:43 am Pacific Time.

Mercury enters the Pre-Shadow on December 1 of 2016

Please note that all times are approximate. The actual times are defined by the observer location and vary due to parallax.

 * Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) replaced Greenwich Mean Time in 1961. They are often used interchangeably.

The Full description of each cycle is found here