Scorpio
Oct 24, 2026 to Nov 13, 2026
- Pre-shadow starts
- Oct 4, 2026
- Post-shadow clears
- Nov 30, 2026
A shorter Scorpio loop that closes the 2026 water-sign sequence.
Astronomy calendar
Mercury retrograde dates 2026-2030
UTC station dates, shadow windows, and a live countdown for Mercury's apparent retrograde motion as seen from Earth.
Next retrograde
Oct 24, 2026 to Nov 13, 2026
0 days
Scorpio apparent retrograde
Current status
In retrograde
Mercury is in the listed apparent retrograde window until Nov 13, 2026 UTC.
12 days left
All periods
| Year | Retrograde | Shadow window | Zodiac span | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Feb 26, 2026 to Mar 20, 2026 | Feb 11, 2026 to Apr 9, 2026 | Pisces | A compact Pisces loop, useful as a sky-calendar marker for one of 2026's water-sign apparent reversals. |
| 2026 | Jun 29, 2026 to Jul 23, 2026 | Jun 13, 2026 to Aug 7, 2026 | Cancer | The longest 2026 window by date count, with Mercury retracing a narrow Cancer arc. |
| 2026 | Oct 24, 2026 to Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 4, 2026 to Nov 30, 2026 | Scorpio | A shorter Scorpio loop that closes the 2026 water-sign sequence. |
| 2027 | Feb 9, 2027 to Mar 3, 2027 | Jan 25, 2027 to Mar 23, 2027 | Pisces to Aquarius | A cross-sign station from late Aquarius back through early Pisces by apparent motion. |
| 2027 | Jun 10, 2027 to Jul 4, 2027 | May 26, 2027 to Jul 19, 2027 | Cancer to Gemini | A late-Gemini to early-Cancer loop, giving 2027 its longest central retrograde span. |
| 2027 | Oct 7, 2027 to Oct 28, 2027 | Sep 20, 2027 to Nov 15, 2027 | Scorpio to Libra | A Libra-Scorpio crossover that completes the 2027 sequence. |
| 2028 | Jan 24, 2028 to Feb 14, 2028 | Jan 8, 2028 to Mar 6, 2028 | Aquarius | The first of three air-sign 2028 loops, centered in Aquarius. |
| 2028 | May 21, 2028 to Jun 13, 2028 | May 6, 2028 to Jun 30, 2028 | Gemini | A Gemini loop with a nearly eight-week full shadow-to-shadow observing window. |
| 2028 | Sep 19, 2028 to Oct 11, 2028 | Aug 29, 2028 to Oct 27, 2028 | Libra | A Libra loop that finishes 2028's air-sign pattern. |
| 2029 | Jan 7, 2029 to Jan 27, 2029 | Dec 21, 2028 to Feb 16, 2029 | Aquarius to Capricorn | A year-opening crossover, beginning in Aquarius and stationing direct in Capricorn. |
| 2029 | May 2, 2029 to May 25, 2029 | Apr 17, 2029 to Jun 10, 2029 | Gemini to Taurus | A Taurus-Gemini crossover, one of four retrograde periods touching calendar year 2029. |
| 2029 | Aug 30, 2029 to Sep 22, 2029 | Aug 13, 2029 to Oct 10, 2029 | Virgo | A late-summer Virgo loop with a comparatively long surrounding shadow window. |
| 2029 | Dec 22, 2029 to Jan 10, 2030 | Dec 4, 2029 to Jan 30, 2030 | Capricorn | A Capricorn loop that starts in 2029 and resolves in the first days of 2030. |
| 2030 | Apr 13, 2030 to May 7, 2030 | Mar 29, 2030 to May 23, 2030 | Taurus to Aries | A spring crossover from Taurus back into Aries by apparent geocentric motion. |
| 2030 | Aug 13, 2030 to Sep 5, 2030 | Jul 29, 2030 to Sep 22, 2030 | Virgo to Leo | A Virgo-Leo loop, listed by some almanacs one to three days later depending on station-time convention. |
| 2030 | Dec 5, 2030 to Dec 25, 2030 | Nov 17, 2030 to Jan 11, 2031 | Capricorn to Sagittarius | A year-end Capricorn-Sagittarius loop that carries its post-shadow into January 2031. |
What Mercury retrograde means here
Astronomically, Mercury retrograde is an apparent change in Mercury's direction against the background sky. Mercury is not reversing its orbit around the Sun. The effect comes from viewing two moving planets from Earth: Mercury travels on a smaller, faster inner orbit, and when the Earth-Mercury-Sun geometry lines up, its position appears to slow, stop, drift backward for a few weeks, then resume its usual eastward motion.
The start and end dates in this tool are the station dates: the points where that apparent geocentric motion changes direction. Shadow windows are bookkeeping ranges used by sky-calendar and astrology communities for the broader arc Mercury retraces before and after the central retrograde. They are included because people search for them, not because this page treats them as predictive advice.
Culturally, Mercury retrograde is often discussed as a period for mixed messages, delayed travel, or technical mishaps. That is a belief-system interpretation, not an astronomy claim, and there is no peer-reviewed evidence that Mercury's apparent motion causes events on Earth. Use this page as a dated almanac for a real optical effect and as context for a popular calendar phrase.