The twenty-seven nakshatras.

A nakshatra is a 13°20' slice of the zodiac — one twenty-seventh of the 360° circle. Vedic astrology uses the nakshatras as the Moon's resting stations; the Moon moves through roughly one nakshatra per day. Each one has a ruling planet, a symbol, a presiding deity, and a distinct quality that colors any day or chart the Moon touches. Where tropical Western astrology works primarily with the twelve signs, Vedic astrology layers the 27 nakshatras on top — it's a finer-grained reading of the same sky.

A zodiac sign covers 30°; a nakshatra covers 13°20'. So a single sign contains slightly more than two nakshatras. The sign tells you the broad element and modality of a placement; the nakshatra tells you more precisely what deity, story, and ruling planet shape that degree. For a Moon placement in particular, Vedic practitioners read the nakshatra first — it's considered more load-bearing than the sign alone.

Each nakshatra is further divided into four padas — 3°20' each. 27 nakshatras × 4 padas = 108 padas covering the full zodiac. The pada adds another layer: it maps the nakshatra onto the navamsa (D9) divisional chart. Knowing your Moon's pada refines the interpretation from 'you have Moon in Rohini' to 'you have Moon in Rohini pada 3, which also colors your navamsa Ascendant.'

The panchanga page at /astrology/vedic/panchanga computes the current transiting nakshatra every fifteen minutes. The Moon spends about a day in each nakshatra before moving on; if you're planning anything auspicious, traditional Vedic practice looks at which nakshatra the Moon will be in on the day.

Some classical sources mention a twenty-eighth nakshatra called Abhijit, which sits between Uttara Ashadha and Shravana. It's intercalary — fitted into the gap when specific calculations need it (certain muhurta and remedial work), but not part of the standard 27-station scheme used for day-to-day panchanga. The count is 27 because 27 × 13°20' = exactly 360°.