Jupiter Moves from Leo into Virgo: 2026–2028 Dates and Meaning

Jupiter’s dates from Leo to Libra

Sign changes are given to the minute in UTC. Stations are given to the day: Jupiter moves so slowly as it turns that the exact hour means little.

Several of these fall close to midnight UTC. Jupiter entered Leo on the evening of June 29 on US Pacific time. The December 13 station is December 12 in the Americas, and the April 13 station is the evening of April 12 there. Jupiter enters Virgo at 21:45 on July 25 in Los Angeles and just after midnight on July 26 in New York. The May 13, 2028 station is May 14 in India and Singapore, and the Libra ingress is the evening of August 23 on US Pacific time.

The rest of Jupiter’s year in Leo

Astrologers associate Jupiter in Leo with growth through creativity, generosity, visibility and joy: making things, performing, playing, and the confidence to be seen. In traditional terms Leo gives Jupiter no sign-level dignity, since it is neither Jupiter’s domicile (Sagittarius and Pisces) nor its exaltation (Cancer). Leo is a fire sign, though, and Jupiter is one of the traditional triplicity rulers of fire, so astrologers generally treat it as comfortable there.

The retrograde runs from December 13, 2026 at 27°01′ Leo back to April 13, 2027 at 16°59′ Leo. It is often read as a second look at whatever grew quickly in the autumn: projects to finish rather than multiply, generosity to measure. Any planet in your chart between 16°59′ and 27°01′ Leo gets three passes from Jupiter in this cycle.

Two sky events stand out in the Leo phase. Mars catches up with Jupiter on November 16, 2026 at 06:21 UTC (late on November 15 on US Pacific time), a conjunction at 25°53′ Leo that astrologers associate with confidence, appetite and a readiness to take risks. Then Jupiter reaches opposition on February 11, 2027 at 00:28 UTC (the evening of February 10 in the Americas), at 22°02′ Leo, in the middle of its retrograde. Around opposition Jupiter rises at sunset, stays up all night and shines at its brightest for the year.

If you were born with Jupiter in Leo, the natal reading is a different question; see Jupiter in Leo in a birth chart.

Jupiter in Virgo: growth through detail

Virgo is the sign of Jupiter’s detriment in traditional astrology. Virgo is ruled by Mercury and sits opposite Pisces, one of Jupiter’s own signs. Detriment means a planet is working far from home, through methods that are not its own. It does not mean misfortune. Jupiter’s instinct to expand has to go through Virgo’s instinct to sort, refine and make useful.

Astrologers associate the transit with growth through skill, service, health routines, editing and practical improvement: progress that comes from getting the details right. The tension they describe is the other side of that, perfectionism, worrying over small things, or projects that keep expanding in scope. Jupiter turns retrograde in Virgo on January 12, 2028 at 27°30′ and direct on May 13, 2028 at 17°32′, before leaving for Libra on August 24, 2028.

The Virgo phase has its own marker. On August 31, 2027 Jupiter is conjunct the Sun at 07:30 UTC, and ten hours later the New Moon at 17:41 UTC falls at 8°06′ Virgo, within half a degree of Jupiter. Astrologers often read a New Moon on Jupiter as a well-supported start, here in Virgo matters of work, routines and skill. Jupiter is lost in the Sun’s glare for a few weeks around that conjunction and then reappears in the morning sky.

For Jupiter in Virgo as a birth placement, see Jupiter in Virgo in your birth chart.

Twelve years ago: the 2014–2016 echo and Jupiter returns

Jupiter takes 11.86 years to orbit the Sun (NASA’s Jupiter fact sheet), so it comes back to the same signs about every twelve years. Last time it entered Leo on July 16, 2014, moved into Virgo on August 11, 2015, and reached Libra on September 9, 2016. Some astrologers find that themes from those years return in the same houses; that is an observation to test against your own life, not a rule.

People born while Jupiter was in Leo, from July 16, 2014 to August 11, 2015, are having their first Jupiter return during the current Leo transit. Those born from August 11, 2015 to September 9, 2016 have Jupiter in Virgo and reach their return between July 2027 and August 2028. A return is exact when Jupiter comes back to the natal degree, sometimes once and sometimes three times when a retrograde intervenes. The Jupiter sign calculator shows your natal Jupiter sign.

Vedic dates: when Jupiter changes rashi

Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, about 24° behind the tropical one on the Lahiri ayanamsa, so Jupiter changes rashi on different dates. By our estimate, made from the tropical positions:

• ✦Jupiter enters sidereal Leo (Simha) around the end of October 2026;
• ✦it moves back into Cancer (Karka) during its retrograde, around late January 2027;
• ✦it re-enters Leo around late June 2027;
• ✦it reaches Virgo (Kanya) around late November 2027, then dips back into Leo around late February 2028 and returns to Virgo around late July 2028.

Jupiter is exalted in Cancer in Jyotish as in Western tradition, so its sidereal return to Karka in the first half of 2027 is usually read as a strong period for it.

These are estimates, not engine output. For exact rashi dates in your city, check a panchang such as Drik Panchang. Aurae calculates tropical charts and does not compute rashi or dashas.

Where Jupiter is working for you, by Rising sign

With Whole Sign houses, count from your Rising sign to Leo and Virgo. The first column is Jupiter’s house until July 2027; the second is its house from July 2027 to August 2028.

Astrologers treat Jupiter’s house as an area that tends to open up, not a guarantee of anything arriving there. To see when Jupiter and Venus touch your own natal planets, the love timing calculator lists dated windows from your chart.

Jupiter transit questions, answered

Is Jupiter in Virgo bad?

No. Detriment is a traditional label for a planet working outside its own nature, not a forecast of bad luck. Jupiter in Virgo is usually read as growth that comes through effort, precision and usefulness rather than through big leaps.

What is a Jupiter return?

The point when Jupiter comes back to the sign and degree it held when you were born, roughly every 12 years: around ages 12, 24, 36, 47 to 48, and 59. Astrologers read it as the start of a new growth cycle.

What does Jupiter in Leo mean for Leo Sun or Leo Rising?

With Leo Rising, Jupiter is crossing your 1st house, which astrologers associate with confidence, visibility and a fresh sense of direction. With the Sun in Leo, the key moment is when Jupiter reaches the degree of your Sun, which happens once or, if your Sun sits between 16°59′ and 27°01′ Leo, three times. Both are usually read as encouraging, with the familiar Jupiter caution about overdoing it.

When does Jupiter enter Libra?

On August 24, 2028 at 05:04 UTC, which is the evening of August 23 on US Pacific time.