The five major aspects
| Aspect | Angle | Orb | Nature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conjunction | 0° | 8° | Neutral: fusion / amplification |
| Sextile | 60° | 6° | Soft: opportunity |
| Square | 90° | 8° | Hard: friction / drive |
| Trine | 120° | 8° | Soft: flow / talent |
| Opposition | 180° | 8° | Hard: polarity / projection |
Why the orb is named: a square 0°30′ from exact and a square 7°30′ from exact are both called a square, and they are not the same thing. The closer one is far stronger, so each aspect here comes with its orb in degrees. How orbs work
What each aspect actually means
Conjunction, 0°
Two bodies at the same zodiac longitude. Their energies fuse; the result depends on the planets and signs involved.
Sextile, 60°
An open door. The two bodies cooperate easily but require effort to use; ignored sextiles fade into the background.
Square, 90°
Tension that demands action. Squares show up as recurring problems that, when faced, build skill and resilience.
Trine, 120°
Easy current between two bodies. Often shows up as natural ability, sometimes so easy it's taken for granted.
Opposition, 180°
Two bodies face each other across the chart. The integration challenge is often projected onto people or events outside.
How orbs work
An orb is the tolerance around the exact aspect angle. A square is exact at 90°; an 88° angle still reads as a square if the orb is 8°. Tighter orbs (under 1°) are “exact” aspects and tend to dominate a chart; wider orbs are softer and may need supportive factors to register.
The table above gives the natal orbs: what a planet-to-planet aspect inside one birth chart may be off by and still count. Other modes are tighter. Synastry, one chart against another, uses 6° for a conjunction, square, trine or opposition and 4° for a sextile. Transits to the natal chart use 2° when the moving body is the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus or Mars and 3° for any other moving body. Every mode reports the exact orb of each aspect, so you can see which connections are tight and which are loose.
Applying vs separating
An applying aspect is one whose orb is closing, so the two bodies are moving toward the exact angle; a separating aspect is one whose orb is opening. Which of the two it is follows from the motion of both bodies, retrograde included, not from the faster one alone. Applying aspects are often read as future-leaning, separating ones as a completed arc. NatalChart.AI calculates this for each natal and transit aspect, and a transit also carries the day it is or was exact (transits of the Moon excepted). The phase appears in the reading text, the export and the API, and in the phase column on Verify your chart; the aspect list in the app has no separate label for it.
How chart-grounded AI reads aspects
The aspects are calculated before the language model writes anything. It receives them as structured chart data, each with its orb and its applying or separating phase, and is instructed to mention only aspects that are in that data and to cite the planet pair and the orb when it makes a claim. That is an instruction, not a technical guarantee: AI-generated text can still contain mistakes, so check a cited aspect against the chart’s own aspect list. See Chart-Locked AI Reading.
Frequently asked questions
What is an aspect in astrology?
An aspect is an angular relationship between two bodies in a chart, measured in degrees of longitude. The five major aspects, conjunction (0°), sextile (60°), square (90°), trine (120°) and opposition (180°), describe how two planets are 'speaking' to each other.
What is an orb?
An orb is the distance of an aspect from exact, in degrees, and the orb rule is the largest distance at which the aspect is still listed. Orb conventions differ between tools; NatalChart.AI uses fixed natal orbs: 8° for a conjunction, square, trine and opposition, 6° for a sextile. A conjunction 9° wide is not listed. The orb is given next to each aspect in your chart, because a square 0°30′ from exact and a square 7°30′ from exact are both squares and are not the same thing.
Are minor aspects worth reading?
Some astrologers read quincunxes (150°), semi-sextiles (30°) and other minor aspects. NatalChart.AI calculates the five major aspects only, because they have the strongest interpretive consensus. Minor aspects are not calculated, so a tool that includes them will list contacts that NatalChart.AI does not.
How does NatalChart.AI handle aspects in AI readings?
The aspects are calculated before the AI writes anything. The AI receives them as structured chart data, each with its orb, and is instructed to cite the planet pair, aspect type and orb when it makes a claim and to explain only aspects that are in that data. That instruction lowers the risk of an invented aspect but does not remove it: check a cited aspect against the chart's own aspect list.