Which Zodiac Sign Lasts Longest? Cancer, 31.5 Days — Capricorn Is Shortest at 29.4. Every Sign Measured
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Every zodiac sign is exactly 30° of the ecliptic. But the Sun does not move through them at the same speed, so the "seasons" are not the same length. In 2026 the longest is Cancer, 31.45 days, and the shortest is Capricorn, 29.44 days.
How long the Sun stays in each sign (2026)
| Sign | Sun enters (UTC) | Days in the sign |
|---|---|---|
| Aquarius | Jan 20, 01:41 | 29.59 |
| Pisces | Feb 18, 15:46 | 29.95 |
| Aries | Mar 20, 14:38 | 30.45 |
| Taurus | Apr 20, 01:30 | 30.96 |
| Gemini | May 21, 00:29 | 31.33 |
| Cancer | Jun 21, 08:21 | 31.45 (longest) |
| Leo | Jul 22, 19:14 | 31.30 |
| Virgo | Aug 23, 02:23 | 30.91 |
| Libra | Sep 23, 00:10 | 30.40 |
| Scorpio | Oct 23, 09:41 | 29.90 |
| Sagittarius | Nov 22, 07:24 | 29.56 |
| Capricorn | Dec 21, 20:49 | 29.44 (shortest) |
The Capricorn season that began on December 21, 2025 was also 29.44 days. The lengths barely change from one year to the next.
Why the seasons are uneven
Earth's orbit is slightly elliptical. Earth is closest to the Sun in early January and moves fastest then, so the Sun appears to cross Capricorn and Sagittarius quickly. Earth is farthest in early July and moves slowest, so the Sun lingers in Cancer, Gemini and Leo. It is the same reason the northern half of the year, from the March equinox to the September equinox, is about 186 days long and the southern half about 179.
Does that mean more Cancers are born?
Only by a little, if births were spread evenly through the year: Cancer covers 8.6% of the year and Capricorn 8.1%. Real birth counts are not even. They rise and fall by month and by country, and we have not measured that here. So this table says how long each sign lasts, not how many people have each sign.
What the numbers do and don't tell you
The length of each Sun sign season is astronomy. Whether a longer season says anything about the people born in it is not something these numbers can show. This is a measurement of the sky, not of you.
How we calculated: the Sun's apparent longitude from the public-domain (Meeus) solar formulas in our chart engine, searched hour by hour and refined to the minute at each 30° boundary. Season lengths are the gaps between consecutive ingresses.