The Capricorn sign guide
- Dates
- December 22 – January 19
- Element
- Earth
- Modality
- Cardinal
- Ruled by
- Saturn
Capricorn is the cardinal earth sign, ruled by Saturn, and it begins at the December solstice, the shortest day of the year north of the equator.
December 21 or 22? The solstice decides
The tropical zodiac ties 0° Capricorn to the December solstice, when the Sun reaches its farthest point south of the celestial equator. We computed the instants on NASA JPL data, and the U.S. Naval Observatory lists the same times within a minute.
All three solstices in the table land on December 21 in US Eastern time, though many lists start Capricorn on December 22. The solstice last fell on December 22 (Eastern) in 2011, and from 2012 through 2030 it lands on the 21st every year. So every December 22 birthday since 2012 is Capricorn in Eastern time, and a December 21 birthday is too if it comes after the solstice.
The far end moves around more. The Sun's entry into Aquarius falls on January 19 (Eastern) in 12 of the 22 years from 2009 to 2030, including 2025 and 2026. In those years a January 19 birthday is Capricorn only until the ingress, which came at 8:45 p.m. EST in 2026.
The December solstice, when the Sun enters Capricorn | Year | US Eastern time | Universal Time |
|---|
| 2026 | Dec 21, 3:50 p.m. EST | Dec 21, 20:50 UT |
| 2027 | Dec 21, 9:42 p.m. EST | Dec 22, 02:42 UT |
| 2028 | Dec 21, 3:20 a.m. EST | Dec 21, 08:20 UT |
Don't quite see yourself in Capricorn? For most people, the Moon or Rising sits in another sign. Find my Moon and Rising free
Capricorn traits and personality
Capricorn is cardinal earth, a sign that takes charge of a project and keeps going after the novelty wears off. Its symbol is the sea-goat, a goat with a fish's tail. Traditional astrology makes Saturn, the ruler, the planet of time and limits, and Capricorn descriptions lean hard on both.
Capricorn humor is often dry, and the harshest standards are usually the ones they set for themselves. The people around them feel those standards too. A Capricorn often expects others to match their timetable and can treat a missed deadline as a lack of respect.
Overwork is the other risk. Work can take over the whole identity, and asking for help can feel uncomfortably close to failing. Friendship can be slow to build, but once it's there, a Capricorn tends to show affection by keeping promises.
In love, Capricorn tends toward cautious commitment, and trust takes time. Astrologers read relationships through Venus, and two Capricorn Suns can have very different ones: Venus in Aquarius tends to flirt through ideas, Venus in Capricorn through reliability. The Venus sign guide covers all twelve placements.
Your Sun sign is one part of a birth chart. Astrologers read the Moon for emotional needs and the Ascendant, the sign rising at your birth, for how you meet the world, so a Capricorn who feels nothing like this description should look there next.
Why fewer Americans are Capricorns
In US birth records from 2000 to 2014, Capricorn is the least common Sun sign. Just 7.50% of births fell between December 22 and January 19 (4,663,199 of 62,187,024), the lowest share of the twelve, in the Social Security Administration counts published by FiveThirtyEight.
Part of that is length. At 29 days, Capricorn is the shortest range on the standard sign calendar. Holiday dates pull it down further. December 25 averaged 6,438 births, January 1 averaged 7,735 and December 24 averaged 8,034. Those were the three quietest dates of the year, against an overall average of 11,350 a day.
December 27 and 28 each averaged about 12,190, among the 25 busiest dates of the year. Even with Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day taken out, Capricorn still averages about 2% fewer births a day than the year as a whole.
Saturn squares Capricorn, 2026 to 2028
Saturn, Capricorn's ruler, entered Aries on February 13, 2026 at 7:12 p.m. EST and stays there until April 12, 2028. Aries and Capricorn are 90 degrees apart, a square, and astrologers tie a Saturn transit like this to limits on plans and extra responsibility.
It turns retrograde twice along the way, from July 26 to December 10, 2026 and from August 9 to December 23, 2027 (US Eastern dates). The Saturn in Aries guide has the full timeline and a read for each rising sign.
Before that, Pluto settled into Capricorn on November 26, 2008 and left for the last time on November 19, 2024. It crossed every degree of the sign on the way, so every Capricorn born before 2008 had Pluto pass over their Sun at some point in those 16 years.
Capricorn also gets two lunar eclipses. The penumbral eclipse of July 18, 2027 falls at 25°58' Capricorn, and the partial eclipse of July 6, 2028 at 15°16' Capricorn. Dates come from NASA's lunar eclipse catalog, and the Moon's positions from JPL data.