Midheaven Calculator
Type your birth date, time and place. The midheaven needs the time to within a few minutes.
What the midheaven is
The midheaven, written MC for medium coeli, is the point of the zodiac that was highest in the sky, due south from the northern hemisphere, at your birth. It marks the top of the chart and the start of the tenth house in most house systems. Astrology reads it as your public direction: career, reputation and the goals you are known for.
The rising sign and the midheaven move together as the Earth turns, so both need the exact time and place. Unlike the rising sign, the midheaven does not depend much on latitude; it comes almost straight from the sidereal time at your longitude.
Most people's midheaven is in the sign about three signs before their rising sign, but at high latitudes the gap can shrink or stretch. Without a birth time, the midheaven is hidden.
What each midheaven sign means
| MC in | Public image | Work that suits the tradition |
|---|---|---|
| Aries | Pioneer, competitor | Starting ventures, sport, emergency work |
| Taurus | Steady, trusted | Finance, design, land and food |
| Gemini | Communicator | Media, teaching, sales |
| Cancer | Caretaker | Care work, hospitality, home |
| Leo | Star, leader | Performing, management, children |
| Virgo | Expert, helper | Health, editing, analysis |
| Libra | Diplomat | Law, art, partnership work |
| Scorpio | Investigator | Research, psychology, crisis work |
| Sagittarius | Explorer, teacher | Travel, publishing, higher learning |
| Capricorn | Authority | Business, government, long careers |
| Aquarius | Innovator | Technology, science, social causes |
| Pisces | Visionary, healer | Arts, music, spiritual or care work |
Worked examples
- Born 1990-03-05 at 10:00 in New York:
Aquariusat 11 degrees, with Gemini rising. - Born 1985-11-29 at 08:15 in London, MC in
Libra - Born 1972-06-15 at 23:40 in Sydney, MC at
20°56′Sagittarius.
How this is calculated
RAMC = Greenwich apparent sidereal time (astronomy-engine) + east longitude; MC = atan2(sin RAMC, cos RAMC cos e) with the true obliquity e.