Nakshatras divide the zodiac into 27 equal segments of 13°20′ each, tracking the Moon's daily movement with far more precision than the twelve Rashis alone. They are central to Vedic timing — including your Vimshottari Dasha sequence.
The Moon moves through a new Nakshatra roughly every day, making this one of the fastest-changing values in daily Jyotish. Updated automatically.
Each of the 27 Nakshatras spans 13°20′ of the sidereal zodiac and is further divided into four padas (quarters) of 3°20′ each — 108 padas in total. Historically, Nakshatras were used to track the Moon's position against fixed background stars, long before the twelve-sign Rashi system was formalized. Many Jyotish practitioners consider the Moon's Nakshatra at birth to be as important as — or more important than — the Moon's Rashi for personality and timing analysis.
Each Nakshatra is ruled by one of nine Grahas, in a fixed repeating sequence: Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury. This ruling sequence is the foundation of the Vimshottari Dasha system — the most widely used Vedic timing framework — where your Moon's Nakshatra at birth determines which planetary period you begin life in. See Dashas for how this timeline is built.
Each Nakshatra covers 13°20′ of sidereal longitude, in order starting from 0° Aries.
0°00′–13°20′ Aries · Lord: Ketu
13°20′–26°40′ Aries · Lord: Venus
26°40′ Aries–10°00′ Taurus · Lord: Sun
10°00′–23°20′ Taurus · Lord: Moon
23°20′ Taurus–6°40′ Gemini · Lord: Mars
6°40′–20°00′ Gemini · Lord: Rahu
20°00′ Gemini–3°20′ Cancer · Lord: Jupiter
3°20′–16°40′ Cancer · Lord: Saturn
16°40′–30°00′ Cancer · Lord: Mercury
0°00′–13°20′ Leo · Lord: Ketu
13°20′–26°40′ Leo · Lord: Venus
26°40′ Leo–10°00′ Virgo · Lord: Sun
10°00′–23°20′ Virgo · Lord: Moon
23°20′ Virgo–6°40′ Libra · Lord: Mars
6°40′–20°00′ Libra · Lord: Rahu
20°00′ Libra–3°20′ Scorpio · Lord: Jupiter
3°20′–16°40′ Scorpio · Lord: Saturn
16°40′–30°00′ Scorpio · Lord: Mercury
0°00′–13°20′ Sagittarius · Lord: Ketu
13°20′–26°40′ Sagittarius · Lord: Venus
26°40′ Sagittarius–10°00′ Capricorn · Lord: Sun
10°00′–23°20′ Capricorn · Lord: Moon
23°20′ Capricorn–6°40′ Aquarius · Lord: Mars
6°40′–20°00′ Aquarius · Lord: Rahu
20°00′ Aquarius–3°20′ Pisces · Lord: Jupiter
3°20′–16°40′ Pisces · Lord: Saturn
16°40′–30°00′ Pisces · Lord: Mercury
A pada is one of four 3°20′ quarters within a Nakshatra, sometimes used for even finer-grained analysis and for linking to the Navamsha divisional chart.
Because it is tied directly to the Vimshottari Dasha timing system and reflects the Moon's precise position at birth, which many Jyotish traditions treat as more personally descriptive than the broader 30-degree Rashi.
From the Moon's current sidereal longitude, divided into 27 equal 13°20′ segments starting at 0° Aries. Prajvia recalculates this daily using deterministic astronomical formulas.
Only if you happen to check on a day when the Moon is transiting the same Nakshatra it occupied at your birth. Your birth Nakshatra is fixed; today's is a constantly moving reference point used for transit-based timing.