Everything on this page is global, not per profile: change the zodiac, an aspect orb or which bodies show, and it applies the next time you open any chart. Three dialogs under the Settings menu cover the engine — Calculation, Aspects and Planetary Bodies — and the house system can also be changed from the pill on the chart toolbar.
The Calculation dialog
Settings → Calculation opens a dialog with five categories in its left rail. Every change recomputes the active chart when you save.
| Category | Covers |
|---|---|
| 01 Zodiac & Ephemeris | Zodiac frame, ayanamsa, ephemeris source, the Panchang lunar month |
| 02 Planets & Nodes | Lunar node, Black Moon Lilith, prenatal syzygy |
| 03 Houses & Space | House systems for tropical and sidereal charts, Planetary-houses anchor, high latitudes |
| 04 Traditional Rules | Sect, rulerships and dignities — shown for completeness, marked LATER |
| 05 Progression & Rates | Secondary, tertiary and minor progression rates, solar arc key |
The Calculation dialog — five categories, with edition marks beside each row.
01 · Zodiac & Ephemeris
Default zodiac system
Tropical (seasons), Sidereal (fixed stars) or Draconic. Draconic rotates the whole chart so the North Node sits at 0° Aries; it follows the node setting (True or Mean) on the next tab. Choosing Sidereal moves the dashboard to Vedic mode, and Tropical or Draconic to Western — see Western & Vedic Modes.
Default ayanamsa
Enabled while Sidereal is selected. All eight work: Lahiri (the default and the official Indian standard), Fagan/Bradley, Raman, Krishnamurti (KP), Sri Yukteshwar, True Citra, Galactic Center and Custom Value. Custom shows a box, Ayanamsa at J2000 (degrees), for your own figure.
Ephemeris source
Swiss Ephemeris (recommended) reads the data files shipped with the app, covering 1 CE – 2399 CE; outside that span it falls back to its built-in theory. Moshier is an analytic theory that needs no files and agrees to under an arcsecond over the modern era (it has no asteroids).
Panchang · Lunar month system
Purnimanta (North India), the default, or Amanta (South / West India) — how the Panchang names the Hindu month. Tithis and timings are the same either way; only the month name in the dark fortnight differs.
02 · Planets & Nodes
Lunar node (Rahu / Ketu)
A True Node / Mean Node switch with two separate values, one for each frame — the help line always says which you're editing:
- Sidereal — Mean by default, as in classical Vedic practice.
- Tropical — True by default. Draconic shares the tropical value, and since Draconic is anchored on the node, this choice rotates the whole Draconic chart.
Black Moon Lilith
Mean Lilith (default), True / Osculating Lilith or Interpolated Lilith.
Prenatal lunation (Syzygy)
The last New or Full Moon before birth: Lunation (default) or Ptolemaic, which at a Full Moon takes whichever luminary was above the horizon. Show the point on the wheel with Planetary Bodies → Fictitious Points → Prenatal Syzygy.
03 · Houses & Space
Global default house system
The system used by every tropical chart — the same setting as the house-system pill on the chart toolbar, so changing either moves the other. All 28 systems are listed, grouped as in the toolbar flyout:
- Quadrant — Placidus, Koch, Regiomontanus, Campanus, Porphyry, Alcabitius, Topocentric
- Equal & sign-based — Whole Sign, Equal (Asc), Equal (MC), Vehlow, Aries (0° Aries)
- Equatorial & time-proportional — Meridian, Morinus
- Advanced / research — Krusinski, APC, Horizontal, Sunshine, Gauquelin Sectors, Carter (Polyconic), Sine
- Eastern / Vedic — Sri Pati
- Origin-shifted, derived — Solar, Lunar, Draconic, Part of Fortune, Vertex, Planetary
| Edition | House systems |
|---|---|
| Free | Placidus, Whole Sign |
| Extended | + Sri Pati, Equal (Asc), Koch, Regiomontanus |
| Pro | All 28 |
The house-system pill on the chart toolbar opens the same list.
Sidereal house system
Vedic charts keep their own preference — Whole Sign (default), Sri Pati, Placidus (KP) or Equal — so switching between frames never disturbs either setting. It also decides how Bhava Chalit is drawn.
Planetary-houses anchor
The body whose position becomes the 1st cusp when the Planetary house system is selected — Jupiter by default, or any planet, the North Node or Chiron.
High-latitude handling
Placidus, Koch and Gauquelin Sectors are undefined above the polar circles. Choose what a chart cast there uses instead: Porphyry (default), Whole Sign or Equal (from Ascendant). The status bar then shows, for example, Porphyry (for Placidus · polar).
04 · Traditional Rules
Sect, rulerships and dignities (triplicity, terms, decans) are shown so you can see the full calculation model, but carry a grey LATER chip — they aren't connected to the engine yet. The Position frame row on tab 03 is marked LATER in the same way.
05 · Progression & Rates
- Secondary progression rate — Tropical year (365.2422 days, default), Julian, Gregorian, Sidereal or Anomalistic year, or Custom (days per year).
- Tertiary and Minor progression rate — Average calendar (default), Synodic or Sidereal month, set independently.
- Solar arc direction key — True solar arc (default), Naibod (0°59′08″ per year) or Ptolemy (1° per year).
Saving, and what each edition keeps
You can explore every control on every edition; the edition is checked when you click Save changes. The footer shows ● Unsaved changes until you save or Discard.
| Edition | What Save keeps |
|---|---|
| Free | Nothing — Free uses the standard defaults, and Save opens the upgrade panel. (Placidus and Whole Sign can still be switched from the house-system pill on the chart.) |
| Extended | The Vedic settings: Tropical or Sidereal zodiac, ayanamsa and custom value, the sidereal node, the lunar month, the sidereal house system, and the global house system when it's one Extended includes. |
| Pro | Everything. |
Rows carry the same marks as the rest of the app while locked: a violet gem and crown (saved by Extended) or a gold crown (Pro). If you change Vedic and Pro-only rows together on Extended, the Vedic ones are saved first and the upgrade panel then explains the rest.
Aspects
Settings → Aspects lists all 23 aspects AstroWatch can plot, in four sections: Major Aspects (Conjunction, Opposition, Trine, Square, Sextile), Minor Aspects (Quincunx, Semi-Square, Sesquiquadrate, Semi-Sextile, Quintile, Bi-Quintile, Septile, Novile), Harmonic & Septenary (Decile, Tredecile, Quindecile, Bi-Septile, Tri-Septile, Bi-Novile, Vigintile, Undecile) and Declination Aspects (Parallel, Contra-Parallel). Every row has a colour swatch, an on/off switch and separate natal and transit orbs.
Open Settings → Aspects
Search the list or browse by section; a density toggle switches between Compact and Comfortable rows.
Pick a colour
Each aspect draws from curated palettes grouped by feel — neutral, harmonious, challenging, esoteric, declination.
Set the orbs
Natal and transit orbs are independent, so a square can run wider in your natal chart than for incoming transits. The transit orbs also drive the Aspect Calendar.
Switch it on and Apply
One switch controls natal and transit visibility together. Reset to defaults is always available.
Only the five majors are on out of the box. Minor, harmonic and declination aspects are part of Pro: any edition can recolour or re-orb them, but switching one on prompts the upgrade panel.
Planetary bodies
Settings → Planetary Bodies opens a five-tab catalogue — Planets, Asteroids, Fictitious Points (including Uranian points, the Iranian points and Prenatal Syzygy), Arabic Parts (22 Lots) and Fixed Stars. Every body has independent Natal and Transit switches.
Natal and Transit are independent switches per row.
The ten planets and the lunar nodes are on by default on every edition; the extra bodies — asteroids, fictitious points, Arabic Parts and fixed stars — are part of Pro.
What changes together
Every setting on this page is stored once for the whole app, not per birth profile. Whatever you configure here is what every chart uses the next time you open it.