The Importance of Knowing Your Birth Time for Natal Charts

Natal charts give a revealing and detailed look into one's personality by determining the position of the starts on the time you were born. There are potentially about 1,440 different horoscopes in a single day for one person (24 hours multiplied by 60 minutes), hence the importance of having the exact birth time. Additionally, the accuracy of knowing your exact birth time to get an accurate natal chart is important because of the following reasons: (1) the houses of the zodiac revolve by 1 degree every 4 minutes; (2) after each clock hour, the Earth rotates by 15 degrees; (3) an error in birth time of 2 minutes could result in several horoscope errors.

With 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in each, there are 1,440 different horoscopes in a single day for any person, in any single geographical location. And a natal chart is more detailed than a horoscope since its data comes from analyzing the positions of the stars at the exact moment of one's birth. Which is why knowing the exact birth time is important to get an accurate reading from a natal chart, and aside from making sure that you get the correct horoscope from the 1,440 possibilities, it is also because of these three important factors.

Houses of the Zodiac Revolve By 1 Degree Every 4 Minutes

According to elbertwade.com, every four minutes, "a new degree of a particular zodiac sign appears on the ascendant, (eastern horizon) and consequently an opposite-sign new degree appears on the decendant (western horizon)." This would show that it is possible that a difference in birth times by four minutes could lead to "sign changes on some or all the other eight horoscope house signs." This is depending on the location of the birth place, specifically pertaining to the latitude.

After Each Clock Hour, the Earth Rotates By 15 Degrees

That means that in every hour, it constitutes half of a zodiac sign, and in two hours, a full zodiac sign. This means that estimating the birth date by saying generic time details such as "around noon" or "near dawn" would lead to inaccuracy since every two hours, the reading for the zodiac sign would change. And again, such inaccuracy would mean that the results from a natal chart that is not using the exact time would not be very reliable.

An Error in Birth Time of 2 Minutes Could Result in Several Horoscope Errors

With an error of just 2 minutes, several possible horoscope errors could happen. A different ascendant (a rising sign). A different decan of the same sign could be seen. One or more planets could be in different houses, and some planets could be in different signs. There are even some cases where even Sun sign would change. (Sun signs are the popular zodiac signs used in horoscopes, such Taurus, Libra, Aries, and the like).

Natal chart readings offer a revealing look into one's personality based on the positions of the starts on the day, time, and place one is born. There are so many possibilities that we should have our accurate birth time ready, or else we'd end up with results meant for someone else who was born a minute or two after us. And we don't want to read about someone else's natal chart now, do we?