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Why do Panchang Yoga and nakshatra differ?

The nakshatra follows the Moon alone; the yoga follows the Sun and Moon together. See why the two change at different times though both have 27 names.

01 · Two readings of one sky

The nakshatra follows the Moon; the yoga follows the Sun and Moon together.

Both divide the circle into 27 parts of 13°20′. The Moon’s nakshatra is read from the Moon’s longitude alone. The yoga is read from the sum of the Sun’s and Moon’s longitudes, a point that is not where either body stands.

The Moon’s nakshatra and the yoga on one wheelA sidereal zodiac wheel with 27 equal divisions of 13°20′. 2 November 2026: the Sun at 15°37′ Libra and the Moon at 20°59′ Cancer, in Ashlesha. Their sum, 6°37′ Aquarius, falls in the slot of yoga 23, Shubha. The yoga is read from the sum, the nakshatra from the Moon alone.AriTauGemCanLeoVirLibScoSagCapAquPisyoganakshatraSuMo+2 Nov 2026, 12:00 ISTSun 15°37′ LibraMoon 20°59′ CancerSun + Moon 6°37′ AquariusNakshatra: AshleshaYoga 23: Shubha
2 Nov 2026, 12:00Moon in Ashlesha · yoga Shubha
Sidereal longitudes from the site’s ephemeris at noon IST. The + marker is the sum of the two longitudes, a number drawn on the wheel, not a body in the sky.

02 · Out of step

Yogas run a little faster than nakshatras.

The sum gains the Moon’s daily motion plus the Sun’s, about 14° a day against the Moon’s 13°, so a yoga ends a few hours sooner than a nakshatra and the boundaries drift apart through the month.

Nakshatras and yogas through one weekTwo rows from 1 to 7 November 2026. The Moon’s nakshatras last 23.8 hours on average this week and the yogas 22.3, so the yoga boundaries arrive earlier each day and the two never stay in step.1 TO 7 NOVEMBER 2026 · LINES: DELHI SUNRISEThe Moon’s nakshatraPushyAshleMaghaPurvaUttarHastaChitrYogaSadhyShubhShuklBrahmIndraVaidhVishkPreet1 Nov2 Nov3 Nov4 Nov5 Nov6 Nov7 Nov
Nakshatra and yoga changes from the site’s ephemeris, IST. Dashed lines mark sunrise in Delhi, where a Panchang reads both for the day.

Same divisions, different numbers

A Panchang lists the Moon’s nakshatra and the day’s yoga side by side, and both come in 27 names, so it is easy to assume one is a relabelling of the other. They divide the same circle into the same 27 slots of 13°20′, but they read different numbers on it.

  • The nakshatra is where the Moon stands: its sidereal longitude, as the Moon among the nakshatras shows.
  • The yoga (योग, “joining”) is the Sun’s sidereal longitude added to the Moon’s, wrapped back to 0° after 360°. That sum is a number, not a direction anyone can point to; no star marks it.

At noon IST on 2 November 2026 the Moon stood at 20°59′ Cancer, in Ashlesha. The Sun was at 15°37′ Libra. Their sum, 6°37′ Aquarius, falls in the 23rd slot, so the yoga was Shubha. Two weeks later, with the Moon in Shravana, the sum had moved to Vriddhi.

Why they drift apart

The Moon gains about 13° a day. The sum gains the Moon’s motion plus the Sun’s, about 14° a day, so a yoga is a little shorter than a nakshatra. In the first week of November 2026 the Moon’s nakshatras lasted 23.8 hours on average and the yogas 22.3. Each yoga boundary comes an hour or two earlier against the nakshatras than the one before, and in about two weeks the two sequences slide a whole slot apart.

The gap between them is the Sun’s own position. When the Sun is at 0° of the sidereal zodiac, at Mesha Sankranti, the sum equals the Moon’s longitude and the yoga number briefly matches the nakshatra number. A month later the Sun has moved two slots and a quarter, and so has the offset.

Reading the two together

Because the yoga is read from the same sunrise moment as the tithi and nakshatra, it can end in the middle of the day, like them. A Panchang shows the yoga at sunrise and the time it ends.

The traditional names and their quality are in the yoga guide. The tithi uses the same two bodies in a different way, the Moon’s lead over the Sun rather than their sum; why a tithi can end in the middle of the day shows that angle.

See today’s yoga and nakshatra on the Delhi Panchang, or explore another topic in Learn.