✺ Free Aspect Pattern Finder: Which Shapes Are in Your Chart?
Umbriel's free aspect pattern finder checks your birth chart for seven named shapes and shows which planets form each one, with the exact orb of every aspect.
Runs in your browser.
4420+ people cast their chart here in the last 30 days.
The seven are the Yod, Grand Trine, T-square, Grand Cross, Kite, Mystic Rectangle and Grand Sextile. If your chart has none, it says so: no pattern is ever forced by widening the orbs. Nothing is stored or sent, and no account is needed.
MODERNA modern technique: the shapes are named from the twentieth century on, and the orbs are a choice. This page says which.
- What you'll needYour birth date, and the time and time zone if you know them
- What you getEvery pattern in your chart, the planets that form it and the orb of each aspect, or an honest none
- CostFree, no account required
What an aspect pattern is
An aspect is the angle between two planets, measured round the zodiac circle. A pattern is what you get when several of those angles lock together into one closed shape: three planets in a triangle, four in a cross, six round the whole circle. Astrologers name the shapes because a shape is read as one thing, not as a list of separate aspects.
Most charts hold a few single aspects and no complete shape, and that is normal. This page looks for each of the seven shapes with one fixed set of orbs, tells you which planets form it, and gives you a plain none when nothing fits. It is a way to see the geometry of your chart, not a verdict on it.
The seven shapes
- YodTwo planets 60° apart, both 150° from a third. The slim arrow.
- T-squareAn opposition and a third planet square to both ends.
- Grand TrineThree planets, 120° apart. The equilateral triangle.
- Grand CrossFour planets, 90° apart. Two oppositions crossing.
- KiteA Grand Trine and a tail opposite one corner.
- Mystic RectangleTwo oppositions joined by trines and sextiles.
- Grand SextileSix planets, 60° apart. The six-pointed star.
The exact geometry and the orbs
One table of orbs serves every shape on these pages. Each aspect is judged on its own orb. Nothing is added up, the Sun and Moon get no extra orb, and the limits are the same for every planet. Every limit is at or below the orb the chart's own aspect lines use, so each aspect in a figure is also a line on your chart. Umbriel never widens an orb to produce a result. If nothing fits, the answer is none, and a figure that is only just outside an orb is shown on its own, marked as not counted.
| Aspect | Exact angle | Orb limit |
|---|---|---|
| Opposition | 180° | 6° |
| Square | 90° | 6° |
| Trine | 120° | 6° |
| Sextile | 60° | 4° |
| Quincunx | 150° | 3° |
How common is each one?
Counted in Umbriel's collection of 4,135 famous charts (born 1600 to 2014), cast for noon on the birth date with the Sun to Pluto and the Moon left out, because the collection holds no birth times.
| Shape | Charts | Share | At the app's wider orbs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yod | 362 | 8.8 per cent | 9.7 per cent |
| T-square | 637 | 15.4 per cent | 21.7 per cent |
| Grand Trine | 139 | 3.4 per cent | 4.2 per cent |
| Grand Cross | 18 | 0.4 per cent | 0.7 per cent |
| Kite | 60 | 1.5 per cent | 2.5 per cent |
| Mystic Rectangle | 28 | 0.7 per cent | 1.8 per cent |
| Grand Sextile | 0 | 0 per cent | 0 per cent |
| Any of the seven | 1,101 | 26.6 per cent | 34.2 per cent |
That is a count of famous people, not of births: the collection leans towards the twentieth century, and because Jupiter to Pluto move slowly, a whole birth cohort can share a figure made of them. A fair sample of everyone would differ.
How Umbriel works it out
Umbriel casts the ten planets, Sun to Pluto, for the moment of birth with the same engine as the rest of the app, then tests every combination of planets against each of the seven shapes. A figure counts only if every aspect in it is inside its own orb: opposition 6°, square 6°, trine 6°, sextile 4°, and quincunx 3°. Each aspect is judged on its own orb. Nothing is added up, the Sun and Moon get no extra orb, and the limits are the same for every planet. Every limit is at or below the orb the chart's own aspect lines use, so each aspect in a figure is also a line on your chart.
The Ascendant and Midheaven are left out because they need an exact birth time and place; the lunar nodes, Chiron and the asteroids are left out to keep one clear rule. Adding any of them would find more patterns, and every pattern found that way depends on a choice that is not made here. Umbriel never widens an orb to produce a result. If nothing fits, the answer is none, and a figure that is only just outside an orb is shown on its own, marked as not counted.
The place of birth does not matter for this, because the planets stood at the same longitudes wherever you were born. What turns your clock time into a moment is the time zone, which is why the form asks for a UTC offset and not a city. Use the offset that was in force on the birth date, daylight saving included. The place of birth does not change where the planets were, so Umbriel asks for the time zone, not the town.
With no birth time the Moon is the first thing to move. The Moon travels about 13° a day, so with no birth time it could have stood anywhere in a span of about 26°, and any figure that includes it depends on the hour. The Ascendant and Midheaven need an exact time and place, so Umbriel does not use them here at all.
What's in your result
- Every pattern in your chartEach of the seven that is there, with the planets that form it.
- The orb of every aspectHow many degrees and minutes each aspect is from exact, against its limit.
- A drawingThe figure marked on the zodiac circle, with your other planets as small dots.
- Patterns that are only almost thereShown separately, marked as not counted, so you can see how near they came.
- An honest noneWhen nothing fits you are told so, and nothing is stretched.
- What an unknown time doesWith no birth time, every hour of the day is checked and each pattern is marked firm, partial or absent.
What this calculator answers
Whether the ten planets of your chart make any of seven named shapes, which planets form it, and how far each aspect is from exact.
How it calculates
Umbriel casts the Sun to Pluto for your moment and tests every combination of planets against the shape. A figure counts only when every aspect is inside its orb: opposition 6°, square 6°, trine 6°, sextile 4°, and quincunx 3°. No angles, nodes or asteroids. Only the moment matters, not the place.
When the result is uncertain
With no birth time the Moon could be anywhere in about 26°, so Umbriel checks every hour of the day and says whether the figure holds at all of them, some or none. A figure just outside an orb is shown, never counted.
Common questions
What is an aspect pattern?
An aspect pattern is a complete shape made by several aspects at once, such as a Grand Trine (three planets 120° apart) or a T-square (an opposition with a third planet square to both ends). Umbriel finds seven: the Yod, Grand Trine, T-square, Grand Cross, Kite, Mystic Rectangle and Grand Sextile.
Which orbs does the pattern finder use?
Opposition, square and trine 6°, sextile 4°, quincunx 3°. Each aspect is judged on its own orb. Nothing is added up, the Sun and Moon get no extra orb, and the limits are the same for every planet. Every limit is at or below the orb the chart's own aspect lines use, so each aspect in a figure is also a line on your chart.
Does everyone have an aspect pattern?
No. In Umbriel's collection of 4,135 famous charts (born 1600 to 2014), cast for noon on the birth date with the Sun to Pluto and the Moon left out, because the collection holds no birth times, 1,101 have at least one of the seven, 26.6 per cent, so most charts have none. Having none is not a gap in the chart.
Can I use it without my birth time?
Yes. Leave the time blank and Umbriel checks every hour of the day and tells you whether each pattern holds at all of them, at some of them, or at none. The Moon travels about 13° a day, so with no birth time it could have stood anywhere in a span of about 26°, and any figure that includes it depends on the hour. The Ascendant and Midheaven need an exact time and place, so Umbriel does not use them here at all.
Why does the finder not use the Ascendant or Midheaven?
They need an exact birth time and place, and a pattern that depends on them would change with a few minutes of error. The finder uses the ten planets, Sun to Pluto, so that the answer is as firm as the planets themselves.
Why are there only seven patterns?
These are the figures with a clear geometry and a name that astrologers broadly share. Others exist, such as the Boomerang and the Hammer of Thor, and each needs an orb choice that nobody has agreed. Umbriel states its orbs rather than borrow someone else's, so it adds a figure only when the geometry can be written down.
Is the pattern finder free, and is my birth date saved?
Yes, it is free with no account. It runs in your browser: nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere, and the page loads the calculation engine only once you touch the form.
Why might the app's chart show a pattern this page does not?
The Aspect patterns card on the chart page in the app reads the chart's own aspect lines, whose orbs run wider (opposition 8°, trine and square 7°, sextile 5°, quincunx 3°, and 2° more for the Sun and Moon), and it lists the figures it finds without their orbs. This page uses the narrower limits in the table above, so every figure is a tight one, and it shows a figure that is only just outside as a near miss. Same planets, two rulebooks, and each says which it used.
Go deeper
Every one of these is a page in its own right, written out one at a time.
Related free tools
Prints in the head of this page, all public domain except where stated: Astronomy: a quadrant and a sextant. Engraving., Wellcome Collection; Johannes Hevelius, Machina coelestis, Danzig, 1673, Houghton Library; armillary sphere, printer's tailpiece, 1750, Bibliothèque nationale de France. Ground: Andreas Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, 1661, Wikimedia Commons.
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