Zodiac Signs to Degrees (sign to °)

1 zodiac sign equals 30 degrees exactly.

How to convert zodiac signs to degrees

To convert zodiac signs to degrees, multiply the number of zodiac signs by 30. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply degrees by 0.03333333333 (rounded).

degrees = zodiac signs × 30

Example: 10 zodiac signs = 300 degrees.

About these units

Zodiac Sign (sign)

AstronomicalTraditional unit (still used in some regions)

One twelfth of a turn (30 degrees): the arc of the ecliptic occupied by one sign of the zodiac.

The zodiac is a belt of sky about 8 degrees to either side of the ecliptic, the Sun's apparent yearly path, and it holds the Moon and the bright planets. It is divided into 12 equal signs of 30 degrees of ecliptic longitude each. Babylonian astronomers created the equal division in the late fifth century BCE, probably between 409 and 398 BCE, drawing on older star catalogs such as MUL.APIN. With the Sun advancing roughly a degree a day, it spends about a month in each sign.

Two systems exist. The tropical zodiac, used in Western astrology, anchors Aries to the Sun's position at the March equinox. The sidereal zodiac, used in Hindu astrology, ties the signs to the fixed stars. The signs are exact 30-degree slices, while the constellations they are named for vary widely in width, and precession of about 1.4 degrees per century has moved the March equinox from Aries into Pisces. A sign, as a unit, is therefore 1/12 of a turn rather than a constellation.

1 zodiac sign = 0.08333333333 turns (approximately).

Sources: Wikipedia: Zodiac; Wikipedia: Degree (angle)

Degree (°)

General & non-SICurrent unit

One 360th of a full turn. The everyday unit of angle, inherited from the ancient Babylonians' base-60 counting.

Dividing the circle into 360 parts traces back to the astronomers of ancient Babylon, who counted in base 60. Why 360 in particular is still debated. One explanation points to Persian and Babylonian calendars, which used a year of about 360 days, so the Sun seemed to advance roughly one degree each day. Another says the Babylonians started from the angle of an equilateral triangle and split it into 60 pieces, and a third credits early chord-based trigonometry, where a chord equal to the radius made a natural base. Greek astronomers such as Aristarchus and Hipparchus were among the first to use Babylonian astronomical knowledge systematically.

The number also divides well. 360 has 24 divisors and splits evenly by every whole number from 1 to 10 except 7, which suits a world cut into 24 time zones of 15 degrees of longitude each. Each degree breaks into 60 arcminutes, and each of those into 60 arcseconds. The SI Brochure lists the degree among the widely used non-SI units, equal to π/180 radian, about 0.01745. For scale, the Moon and the Sun each look about half a degree wide, and a little finger held at arm's length covers roughly one degree of sky.

1 degree = 0.002777777778 turns (approximately).

Sources: BIPM SI Brochure, 9th edition (2019); Wikipedia: Degree (angle); Wikipedia: Angular diameter

Related conversions

See all angle units.