Why the LMT Variation Matters in Chart Calculation

(Updated: 2025-06-30)

The LMT variation is simply the distance in time between Greenwich (i.e., the Prime Meridian or 0° longitude) and the observer’s longitude, where 1° = 4 minutes of time, EARLIER if west and LATER if east of Greenwich. Local mean solar time (LMT) was in use prior to Sun., Nov. 18, 1883, at 12 pm, when railroad or standard time was implemented in the U.S. and Canada. The LMT of Greenwich is designated as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), of which is synonymous with UT1 - the basis of calculating the planets in a chart (see https://www.ucolick.org/~sla/leapsecs/seago.pdf, Intro., paragraph 2, sentence 2). When LMT was actually observed pre-1883, to be able to calculate a planet’s position, you needed to know the difference between your LMT (i.e., your longitude) and that of GMT as related in the equation: LMT = UT1 (GMT) - longitude, if west of Greenwich.

Time zones were created to deal with the chaos generated using clocks preset to LMT. Traveling by train from one town or state to the next made scheduling much easier, eliminating this chaos. Since clocks were synchronized post-1883 to one meridian of longitude (e.g., 120°W or PST), the scheduling confusion was minimized. The LMT of each observer within a time zone was not, however, synchronized to the LMT of 120°W. Only the mechanical clocks were synchronized to it. This fact is often overlooked these days, and the synchronization of clocks has led to a belief in the hoax/fantasy that time is “the same everywhere,” at least within a time zone. And there are even some who extend the hoax globally, believe it or not, imagining and chanting that “UT1 [GMT] is the same everywhere on Earth” (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Time). Because “precise measurements of the Sun are difficult,” this is no reason to fabricate that rotational time (UT1/GMT) is “the same everywhere on Earth.” The truth is simply that GMT (UT1) is the LMT of the observer at Greenwich and nowhere else! If you’re not at 0° longitude, then your LMT is EARLIER if west or LATER if east of it. It’s called the ‘LMT variation.’

So, how do we calculate our LMT based upon a clock that’s been arbitrarily synchronized to another meridian of longitude? Most astrologers just resort to the mental trick of inputting or substituting the LMT for the standard or civil time that was used to record, let’s say, an individual’s birth. Then, they assume and claim that “time is the same everywhere,” at least within the time zone, so the UT1 (GMT) must be the same as well, despite it being based upon the rotation of the Earth, just like sidereal time (LAST). We can see this deception in all our charts that show the same calculated UT1 (i.e., the same Moon) for all observers whose clocks are synchronized, right? In the real world though, there is no substitution of one observer’s LMT for that of another. Rotational time still exists post-1883 whether we like it or not. When astrologers resort to this Wonderland trick of substitution, the LMT chart and the standard chart based upon civil time appear to be the same, of course. The only thing these same astrologers are doing, e.g., with Einstein’s chart, is demonstrating how the deception works! If the charts are the same, then “what’s the problem,” they say. The problem is this: One chart is real (based upon the observer’s longitude - LMT), the other is fake (based upon the hoax/fantasy that the observer’s longitude is somewhere else - Standard).

To properly calculate a chart based upon a fictitious civil time input, the observer’s longitude must be recognized and honored via a conversion formula that’s unlike the post-1883 formula: CT = UT1 - TZ offset. As anyone can see in this formula, there is no recognizing or honoring an observer’s longitude. The formula incorrectly assumes all observers are standing on the time zone meridian (e.g., 120°W), and we know (some of us, anyway) that they are NOT standing there, right? To correct this, we promote a formula that honors one’s longitude: standard time = universal time - time-zone offset - LMT variation. The equivalent is: CT = UT1 - ΔT_zone - [(λ_obs - λ_std) × 4 / 60] ... where the LMT variation is the distance in time east from the standard meridian, CT = civil or standard time, and UT1 = GMT or the LMT of Greenwich, a longitude-dependent calculation (for an in-depth explanation (see https://rscott51.substack.com/p/sidereal-time-and-universal-time). The post-1883 formula ONLY honors the standard meridian! All of our astrological software today is based upon this Wonderland synchronization hoax! The simple truth is we do not have clones standing on a standard meridian, and all observers do not have the same Moon due to arbitrary synchronization - it’s a fantasy!

To demonstrate this fact, I’ve created a small database of celebrities - 145 of them from Astro-Databank with Rodden AA- or A-rated birth data, and 6 with other ratings - 43 of which have an LMT variation of more than an hour! To facilitate the research of this proposed time conversion formula, I’ve calculated the Moon the standard way using the post-1883 Wonderland formula (CT = UT1 - TZ offset), as well as the proper way using the alternative formula that recognizes and honors the observer’s longitude. The more accurate and precise Moon position is calculated using JPL Horizons.

I’ve erected charts this way for nearly five decades, so it comes rather easy to convert from our fictitious clock time to an apparent/real local time, then to UT1 and vice versa. Since our software programmers have refused (and continue to refuse) to include the correction to convert recorded birth times properly, I use the open source Astrolog 7.8 program w/macro created (thanks to Walter Pullen!) to do this correction automatically. With each entry in the database, you can simply go to Edit/Enter Command Line ... within Astrolog, and the standard chart will appear, hit F3 and the correct planetary positions will appear within the wheel (see example chart). You may also create a startup file as explained in the Astrolog Command lines PDF. The house structure will be the same for both, since sidereal time (i.e., the other rotational time scale) is already properly calculated with standard software based upon the observer’s longitude. The conversion to UT1 on which the planets are based is, however, the problematic one that I’m presenting here.

It should be obvious that the time zone info is crucial to properly calculating the LMT variation, so I’ve curated entries that I believe are accurately shown in Astro-Databank. There are examples, however, in this source that are problematic, where, for example, the TZ info doesn’t match properly, so I’ve been careful to exclude these. There still may be one or two that I’ve allowed that I shouldn’t have. In any case I think the researcher can be confident that I’ve given much consideration to this deficiency within Astro-Databank.

Other examples of incorrect birth data extend to several planetary discoveries. Since we’re concerned here with celebrity data, these are not listed in this database (e.g., Chiron, Pluto, Eris, Sedna, Ceres and Icarus), but if they were, we’d use the reported discovery dates/times/places archived here, using the first observation for the given date (https://minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?utf8=%E2%9C%93&object_id=Chiron) rather than use anecdotal information about when an object was “recognized” later on photographic plates or CCD. Recognition dates-times-places announced by some astronomers to the public may be significant to some people, even some astronomers like Mike Brown, but they are not significant or accepted by the I.A.U. as discovery data that are reported to them. When Chad Trujillo, co-discoverer of Sedna, was asked about the discovery date-time-place of this TNO, he gave a correct answer (see https://www.astro.com/astro-databank/Celestial:_Sedna_Discovery). In other words, his answer matches the MPC record, not with M. Brown’s fantasy that the discovery date/time/place is the same as “recognizing” the discovery. The same applies to Charles Kowal’s discovery of Chiron on Oct. 18, 1977 - he “recognized” his discovery on Nov. 1, as reported here. When I asked C. Kowal in a phone conversation that same month, “When did you discover Chiron?”, he, of course, said it was two weeks earlier at Palomar Obs. on Oct. 18, 1977. This was when Providence decided that Chiron would be discovered, and it’s what we see at MPC and JPL SBDB.

Happy researching!
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Standard Time Zones of the World:

PDFs:
1 - LMT variation sort
2 - Last name sort
3 - Date sort
4 - Declination sort
5 - Moon limbs
6 - Astrolog Command lines
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Example chart:
(Note: The apparent Moon’s nodes and apogee (BML) are JPL Horizons-calculated.)