Station Activations Study
A body that stations on a natal point stays there for weeks, which is why many researchers regard these as the heaviest transits of all. A Station Activations study isolates them.
The study generates an event each time a transiting body stations retrograde or direct while within orb of a natal body. Every event records the stationing body, which kind of station it is, the natal body being activated and the moment the station occurs.
Create a Station Activations Study
To add a Station Activations study to the current workspace:
- Click Transit Studies → Station Activations on the menu bar.
Alternatively, click the Station Studies drop-down button on the toolbar and select Station Activations from its flyout.
The new study appears at the bottom of the Studies list and is selected automatically, so its settings open immediately. It takes its name from the study type.
What This Study Finds
Station Activations is an activation study rather than a transiting one, and the distinction decides what counts as an event. The station is an event the transiting body produces on its own, entirely in the sky, and it would happen whether or not any natal body were nearby. What makes it an activation is that the body is conjunct a natal body, within orb, at the moment it turns, and it is that contact which activates the natal body. In a transiting study such as Transiting Aspects, by contrast, the natal body is one end of the contact itself.
The Transit Orb, on the Event & Natal Data tab, sets how close the stationing body must be to the natal body for the contact to register. See Orb Settings for how the orb fields behave. The Event Type drop-down on the same tab narrows the results to retrograde stations alone or direct stations alone, or leaves the study generating both; see Event Type Selection.
The settings column carries a single tab control with an Ephemeris tab, holding the shared ephemeris settings and date-range panels, and an Event & Natal Data tab. Rather than using the shared Natal Data panel, this study lays the same rows out inline on that tab, with the Event Type drop-down, the natal record, date and time fields and the Transit Orb together. Beneath the tabs, the Transiting Bodies and Natal Bodies selection lists sit side by side.
Events Table Columns
The events table shows the columns below. Several columns are hidden by default, as the table notes. Right-click any column header to show or hide a column, as described in Choose Events Table Columns. The headers of the coordinate columns follow the study's Reference Plane: they read Longitude and Latitude in the ecliptic plane, and Right Asc and Declination in the equatorial plane. The ecliptic-plane header text is listed here.
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Date Time | Date and time the station occurs, in the application's long date-time format. Always the first column, and it cannot be moved. Visible by default. |
| Event Type | Which kind of station the event is, retrograde or direct. Visible by default. |
| Transiting Body | Name of the stationing body. Visible by default. |
| Transiting Body Longitude | Primary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Transiting Body Sign | Position as degrees, sign and minutes of the zodiac. Visible by default. |
| Transiting Body Latitude | Secondary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Transiting Body Distance | Radial distance in astronomical units (AU). Hidden by default. |
| Transiting Body Speed | Speed in degrees per day. Hidden by default. |
| Separation | Angular separation between the stationing body and the natal body, in degrees. Visible by default. |
| Natal Body | Name of the natal body being activated. Visible by default. |
| Natal Body Longitude | Primary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Natal Body Sign | Position as degrees, sign and minutes of the zodiac. Visible by default. |
| Natal Body Latitude | Secondary coordinate in degrees. Hidden by default. |
| Natal Body Distance | Radial distance in astronomical units (AU). Hidden by default. |
| Natal Body Speed | Speed in degrees per day. Hidden by default. |
| Event Interval | Elapsed time since the previous event in the list. Hidden by default. |