Astrojelly guide · Updated October 12, 2026
Start with the local time recorded at birth
When a calculator asks for local birth time, enter the time shown on your birth record. Use the place where you were born, even if you now live somewhere else. Do not first convert the time to your current city's time or to UTC unless the calculator specifically asks for UTC.
For example, someone born in Toronto who now lives in London should use their Toronto birthplace and the recorded Toronto clock time. The location of the laptop does not become the birthplace.
Ready to explore? Open the free birth chart calculator, then check the date, time and selected city before generating your chart.
How to enter your time in Astrojelly
- Choose Date Of Birth, then select your birth hour, minute and AM or PM.
- Choose your country and search Place Of Birth, or choose a matching city from Quick locations.
- Check the displayed Timezone. It belongs to the selected birthplace, not your current location.
- Generate your chart. The result shows the converted UTC moment alongside the selected timezone so you can check what was calculated.
Most visitors can leave Advanced location settings closed. A manual UTC offset is for verified historical information, such as resolving an ambiguous clock change, rather than an extra detail everyone needs to know.
Read the date fields, not just the numbers
A date written as 04/05 can mean April 5 or 4 May. Use the field labels or month name to confirm the intended date. This is especially useful when switching between websites or devices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Your chart should follow your birthday, not a date-format misunderstanding.
Also check AM and PM. In a 12-hour clock, 12 AM means midnight and 12 PM means noon. If the recorded time is uncertain, preserve that uncertainty rather than choosing a tidy-looking number.
Why daylight saving matters
Daylight saving changes the relationship between a local clock and UTC. Using the wrong offset means calculating the sky for a different moment. The relevant rules are the rules for the birthplace and birth date, not simply the rules used today.
Local rules and historical dates differ. NIST explains US daylight-saving rules and exceptions. Canada's National Research Council describes provincial and territorial responsibility. The UK has seasonal clock changes, while Australia has regional differences. A single country-wide assumption can therefore be misleading.
- United States: choose the actual birthplace and birth date; do not assume every location follows the same daylight-saving rule.
- Canada: check the province or territory and the historical birth date. A present-day policy change does not rewrite an earlier birth record.
- United Kingdom: distinguish the recorded local clock time from a manually assumed GMT offset.
- Australia: choose the correct town and state or territory. Do not use Sydney's rules as a shortcut for another birthplace.
What if a clock time occurs twice—or never occurs?
When clocks move back, part of the night can repeat. When clocks move forward, an interval can be skipped. A calculator may need extra information to identify the intended occurrence or explain that the entered clock time cannot be resolved.
If you see that warning, check the original record and location. Use a manual historical offset only when you have verified it. Guessing an offset makes the form easier to finish but leaves the underlying uncertainty unresolved.
Two examples from our calculator checks
Using New York as the selected city, entering March 10, 2024 at 2:30 AM produced a warning that the local clock time does not exist. Entering November 3, 2024 at 1:30 AM produced a warning that the clock time occurs twice. In both cases, Astrojelly asked for a verified historical offset rather than silently choosing an occurrence. These are checks of the calculator's timezone handling, not independent certification of every planetary result.
Choose the right city, even when names repeat
Type the town or city and check its region and country in the selected result. If several places share a name, use the state, province or county to narrow the search. Your current home, the nearest famous city or the place where a certificate was issued is not automatically the place of birth.
If you do not know the birth time
Do not invent a time to unlock more results. Read our guide to a birth chart without a birth time. Time-dependent placements need appropriate limits, and even a Moon sign can require an uncertainty check. Our Moon sign without birth time guide explains how to approach that question.
In Astrojelly, select I don’t know my birth time. The calculator uses local noon as an explicitly labeled reference, omits the rising sign and houses, and checks which Moon signs occur during that local date. The noon-based planetary degrees and aspects still depend on the missing time; read them with that limit in mind.
Your quick pre-chart check
- Confirm the calendar date and month.
- Check the recorded clock time and AM/PM.
- Select the actual birthplace, region and country.
- Resolve any timezone warning using verified information.
- Keep unknown details marked as unknown.
Then begin with one placement at a time. A chart can support curiosity and symbolic reflection; its interpretation is not a scientifically established prediction of your future.