Free Astrology Calculator
Midheaven Calculator
Your Midheaven, or MC, is the point of the zodiac that was highest overhead, due south in the northern hemisphere, at the moment you were born. Astrologers read it as your public direction: vocation, reputation and the contribution you want to be known for. It needs your birth time and place.
What Your Midheaven Describes
The Midheaven is the most visible point of the chart. It describes how you want to be seen in the world, the kind of work that feels like a calling and the reputation you build over time. In quadrant house systems such as Placidus, it is the cusp of the 10th house, the house of career and public life.
The Midheaven is not your job title. A Pisces Midheaven might be a nurse, a painter or a banker who is known for kindness. It describes the quality you bring to public life.
How the Midheaven Is Calculated
The Midheaven is where the ecliptic, the Sun's yearly path, crosses your local meridian. The calculator converts your birth time to Universal Time, finds the sidereal time at your birthplace's longitude, and converts that right ascension into a zodiac degree. Unlike the Ascendant, the Midheaven does not depend on your latitude.
It moves through all twelve signs once a day, staying in each between about 111 and 128 minutes. A birth time that is off by half an hour moves it about seven degrees, so the result tells you how close your time was to a change of sign.
Midheaven and the 10th House
In Placidus houses the Midheaven always opens the 10th house. In Whole Sign houses, popular in traditional astrology, the 10th house is the tenth sign from the rising sign, and the Midheaven can fall in the 9th, 10th or 11th house. The calculator tells you which, so you can read both.
How Accurate Is It?
Positions come from Selfgazer's astrology engine, the same one that draws the chart in your astro room: VSOP87 planetary theory through Astronomy Engine, with Chiron from Swiss Ephemeris tables. Tested against the Swiss Ephemeris, planets agree to within half an arcminute and house cusps to within a tenth of an arcminute. Your local birth time is converted with your birthplace's historical time zone rules, including past daylight saving changes. Everything is calculated in your browser, and nothing you enter is stored.
How Long the Midheaven Stays in Each Sign
Minutes of clock time the Midheaven spends in each sign over one day. Unlike the rising sign, this is the same at every latitude.
| Sign | Time as Midheaven |
|---|---|
| Aries | 1 h 51 min |
| Taurus | 1 h 59 min |
| Gemini | 2 h 08 min |
| Cancer | 2 h 08 min |
| Leo | 1 h 59 min |
| Virgo | 1 h 51 min |
| Libra | 1 h 51 min |
| Scorpio | 1 h 59 min |
| Sagittarius | 2 h 08 min |
| Capricorn | 2 h 08 min |
| Aquarius | 1 h 59 min |
| Pisces | 1 h 51 min |
Midheaven Questions
What Is My Midheaven Sign?
Your Midheaven sign is the sign of the zodiac degree that was culminating, highest in the sky, at your birth. Enter your birth date, time and place above to find it.
Is the Midheaven the Same as the 10th House?
In Placidus and other quadrant house systems, the Midheaven is the cusp of the 10th house. In Whole Sign and Equal houses, it is a separate point that can fall in the 9th, 10th or 11th house.
Can I Find My Midheaven Without a Birth Time?
No. The Midheaven passes through all twelve signs every day, so it needs your birth time and place.
What Does My Midheaven Say About Career?
It describes the quality you want your work to have and how you hope to be recognized, rather than a specific job. Astrologers read it alongside the 10th house, its ruling planet and the Sun.
What Is the IC?
The IC, or Imum Coeli, is the point exactly opposite the Midheaven. Where the Midheaven describes public life, the IC describes roots, home and private foundations.