Declinations & Parallels

What is the Declinations & Parallels endpoint?

You need each body's declination (its angular distance north or south of the celestial equator) and the parallel-and-contra-parallel aspects between bodies. The Declinations & Parallels endpoint takes birth data and returns two arrays: declinations for 18 chart points (Sun, Moon, planets, nodes, angles, Chiron, Part of Fortune, Lilith) and the parallel and contra-parallel aspects between them.

This endpoint is part of the Natal Chart API.

Why does this endpoint exist?

You are working with the second axis of celestial position. Standard aspects measure ecliptic longitude; declinations measure latitude relative to the celestial equator. Bodies at the same declination are "parallel" (similar to a conjunction in effect); at opposite hemispheres they are "contra-parallel" (similar to an opposition). This endpoint runs both the per-body declination and the pairwise aspect detection in one call.

What inputs does it need?

You pass standard birth data: API key, full name, date components, time components, gender, place, decimal latitude and longitude, and timezone offset from UTC. No house_system parameter is needed since declinations are coordinate-system measurements, not house-bound. Authentication uses a Bearer token in the Authorization header.

What does the response data look like?

You get an envelope with status, code, message, and data. The data object splits into two arrays: declinations for per-body values, and aspects for parallel and contra-parallel aspects detected between body pairs. Each is a flat array ready to render directly into a UI panel.

What does a real response look like?

Below is a slice of the response for a sample birth (24 May 2023, 14:40:43 IST, New Delhi). The full response includes 18 declinations and 15 aspects; this slice shows four declinations and four aspects to keep the example readable.

{
  "status": "success",
  "code": 200,
  "message": "Request successful",
  "data": {
    "declinations": [
      { "planet": "Sun", "declination": 20.751924, "decl_sign": "N" },
      { "planet": "Moon", "declination": 25.769668, "decl_sign": "N" },
      { "planet": "Mars", "declination": 21.186416, "decl_sign": "N" },
      { "planet": "Saturn", "declination": -10.428401, "decl_sign": "S" }
    ],
    "aspects": [
      { "planet1": "Sun", "planet2": "Mars", "aspect": "Parallel", "orb": 0.43 },
      { "planet1": "Sun", "planet2": "Lilith", "aspect": "Parallel", "orb": 0.31 },
      { "planet1": "Moon", "planet2": "Venus", "aspect": "Parallel", "orb": 0.77 },
      { "planet1": "Mercury", "planet2": "Saturn", "aspect": "Contra-Parallel", "orb": 0.7 }
    ]
  }
}

What can you build with this endpoint?

You use Declinations & Parallels whenever your interpretation engine needs the declination axis alongside standard ecliptic aspects. Many "hidden" chart patterns surface only on this axis, since two bodies can lack any longitude aspect but still be tightly parallel.

1. Out-of-bounds detection. Highlight bodies with declinations beyond +/-23.45 degrees (the solstice points), a chart signature linked to "out-of-bounds" interpretation in modern astrology.
2. Parallel-aspect overlay. Render parallel and contra-parallel pairs on the wheel chart with a distinct line style from longitude-based aspects.
3. Hidden conjunction detector. Surface body pairs that have no longitude aspect but a tight parallel as "hidden conjunctions" in interpretation UI.
4. Declination dial. Plot all 18 bodies on a vertical declination scale to spot clusters above or below the equator.

How accurate is the calculation?

You are computing a different coordinate (declination instead of ecliptic longitude) for each body and then pairwise differences for the aspect detection. Underlying body positions come from Swiss Ephemeris with NASA JPL ephemeris data, then the declination transform is applied per body. Parallels and contra-parallels follow the same orb logic as longitude aspects, with a default tight orb (under 1 degree).

Birth time precision affects the Ascendant and MC declinations more than slow-moving planets, since both angles change quickly with time of day. Treat angle declinations as approximate when birth time is unknown.

How does this relate to the parent API?

You are extending standard birth-chart analysis with a second coordinate axis. This endpoint complements the Natal Chart API by providing declination values and declination-based aspects (parallel and contra-parallel) that the longitude-focused Aspect Table does not surface.

Planetary Positions returns ecliptic longitude for each body. The Aspect Table returns longitude-based pairwise aspects. This endpoint covers the perpendicular axis, so combining it with Aspect Table gives a complete two-dimensional aspect picture.

Summary

The Declinations & Parallels endpoint returns each major body's declination (latitude relative to the celestial equator) plus all parallel and contra-parallel aspects between bodies. It runs on Swiss Ephemeris with NASA JPL ephemeris data and surfaces aspect patterns that ecliptic-longitude analysis misses. Use it for advanced chart interpretation, out-of-bounds detection, and any feature that treats declination as a first-class chart axis.