Data Entry > Birth date

1. How do I enter the date?
   
   Please, enter day, month, and year of birth. When entering a year, you can usually omit the two first digits of the year number. E.g., a year value "79" will be interpreted as "1979".
   NOTE: The numbers 01 to 12 will be interpreted as "2002" to "2012". This means that for example "1908" has to be entered with all four digits.
   
   
2. I was born in a leap year - is this important?
   
   Leap years have no influence on the calculation of a horoscope. A day in a leap year is a day like any other, the birth chart simply shows the heavens around us at a certain moment. For the calculation of a horoscope, the sidereal time is used, not the time we use to count the hours, days, weeks and years.
   
   
3. I was born on a day when the Sun changes signs. How do I know what sign I am?
   
   Please find the answer to your question in FAQ -> Understanding Astrology -> General
   
   
4. Do you take different calendars into account?
   
   For special date entries, please click the little button next to the birthday field. The link Special date entry will provide all the information you need about Julian or Gregorian Calendars, and B.C. / A.D.
   It is not possible to handle calendars automatically, the same way as time zones or daylight saving time. The reason is: many historical birth dates recorded in books or encyclopaedias have been converted by the authors from Julian to "modern" Gregorian calendar style. Unfortunately, this has not been done consistently, some authors have kept the original calendar. With respective dates, you must know which calendar they use. If they are Julian, please add the letters "jul" to the year on data entry.
   
   
5. Years before 100 A.D.
   
   When entering a year, you can usually omit the two first digits of the year number. E.g., a year value "79" will be interpreted as "1979". If the year 79 A.D. is required, you will have to enter "079". For the year 5 A.D. please enter "005".
    
   The program usually assumes Gregorian calendar dates. If a Julian calendar date is required, please, enter "jul" after the year number, e.g. "1066 jul". For most historical data before the year 1582 you will want to enter "jul".
    
   We have decided not to take care of the calendar switch by an automatic feature. Many history books have converted historical dates to the Gregorian system, while other sources have kept the dates in the original Julian system. There is no way for our computer to know what your source of the birth data did in regard to this calendar conversion.
    
   Years B.C. have to be entered as negative numbers. Attention, the astronomical year counting is to be used. The historical year 3 B.C. is -2 in the astronomical counting style. The difference arises from the fact that the historical counting style has no year zero, while the astronomical style allows for the year zero.