AsterNymAsterNym
Portrait of James A. Van Allen

James A. Van Allen

James A. Van Allen (born September 7, 1914, Mount Pleasant, United States; died 2006), was an American astrophysicist. Allen is best remembered for radio proximity fuze and Van Allen radiation belt. Allen's honours include Time Person of the Year, International Space Hall of Fame and National Medal of Science.

James A. Van Allen’s zodiac sign was Virgo, Chinese zodiac was Wood Tiger, with Life Path 22 in numerology.

Your match with James

Free, no account, stays on this device. Add a birth time later.

James A. Van Allen’s AsterNym identity

The Radiant Explorer

Fire represents warmth, visibility and momentum. Fire-led charts are associated with enthusiasm, expression and the ability to encourage other people. Life Path 22 is traditionally called a master path. It represents large-scale building: combining ambitious ideas with practical structure.

Fire Day Master (BaZi) × mutable Sun × Life Path 22, on the physical plane.

How common is the name James in the U.S.?

#6

US rank in 2025

~5,274,520

Americans share it since 1880

1947

its peak year

In 1914, 26,262 American boys and 107 girls were registered James — 3rd among boys and 545th among girls on the SSA's list that year.

US Social Security Administration public records

What James’s name adds up to

Worked from the name as published, letter by letter.

4

Expression · building what holds

5

Soul Urge · freedom

8

Personality · capable, in charge

The name opens on J (1) and closes on S (1). The value it repeats most is 1, which numerology reads as drive.

Pythagorean letter values · A=1 to I=9, then J=1 again

James’s lucky numbers, colours and stones

Traditional correspondences, calculated not chosen.

Lucky numbers

22 · 1 · 3 · 4

Lucky colours

Green & Teal

Lucky day

Wednesday

Direction

→ East

Season

spring

Stones

Sapphire, Emerald, Green Aventurine

Flower constellation

⭐ Aster · 💜 Lavender · 🌸 Green Orchid

Lavender · Lilac · Botanical green

The record

What sets James apart

Evan Rachel Wood (1987) and Ariarne Titmus (2000) share the birthday in another year, so the sun sits where it sits here.

What the chart says

James, according to the stars

Core essence

James notices. That is the whole thing: the detail everyone else walked past, the small fix that makes the day work, the way you looked slightly off when you said you were fine. The core of James is devotion expressed as usefulness. They love by improving things, and they are far kinder to other people than to themselves.

The vibe

Underneath, James runs hot. The Moon in Aries means feelings arrive fast and loud and burn out just as fast, so the flare you saw an hour ago is already forgiven. What James needs to feel safe is honesty in real time and room to react. Say it straight, and they will always meet you there.

How James creates

How James makes things happen: they light the room. A Yang Fire day master is the sun, warm, visible, impossible to ignore, generous with energy and expecting the same back. James creates in front of people and is at their best with an audience and a cause. The work is learning to rest before the fire does it for them.

Instinct

Instinct: James is bold, a Tiger year, and their gut reaction is to leap. Brave, generous, a bit dramatic, magnetic to be around, and never boring for a second. The Wood year adds growth: ideals, ambition, a need to be getting somewhere.

Purpose

Purpose: Life Path 22 is the master builder. James is here to turn a big vision into something that actually stands, at a scale most people would not attempt. Practical and visionary at once, patient, and learning that even the largest things are built one day at a time.

Triggers

Triggers: unfairness, and being forced to pick a side. Mars in Libra hates open conflict and will negotiate for hours to avoid it, then dig in absolutely when a principle is at stake. James fights for balance. The lesson is that sometimes the fair thing is to just say no.

Computed from James's birth date. Working below.

Where James sits

Six lines

James’s dot comes from the chart; yours is where you put it.

Intimate circleWide network
James

You likely balance a tight inner circle with a wider orbit you dip into.

DeliberateSpontaneous
James

You likely weigh most decisions but can move fast when it matters.

PrivateExpressive
James

You may wear your feelings openly. What you feel tends to show.

Cool off firstResolve immediately
James

You likely handle some friction right away and let smaller things settle.

PracticalVisionary
James

You may favor what's proven and workable over the untested idea.

Gradual trustImmediate chemistry
James

You may build trust slowly, letting closeness earn its way in.

✦ A real star from their birth night

Dedicate a star to James A. Van Allen

Three stars chosen from the real sky above Mount Pleasant on the night they were born. Choose the story that connects you.

A 9 p.m. reference sky, not the birth minute. Dedications are commemorative and confer no ownership of stars.

The sky over Mount Pleasant that night

Computed for 40.97°N, 9 p.m. local sky.

At 9 p.m. the star closest to straight overhead at Mount Pleasant was Sadr, in Cygnus, 86.1° up.

Arcturus was the brightest thing up that night, one of 89 catalog stars above the horizon.

Mount Pleasant sits at 41.0°N, low enough that no headline star is circumpolar: everything bright rises and sets there.

The trade is at the other end of the sky: nothing south of −49.0° declination ever rises from here, which puts Canopus, Rigil Kentaurus, Achernar, Hadar, Acrux, Mimosa and Toliman permanently out of view.

Sun 26° below the horizon, Moon up and 89% lit at waning gibbous.

How unusual James's chart is

Chart pattern score

30 / 100 · Quietly distinctive

2 planets at a critical degree · No Fire planets

An AsterNym index built from stelliums, yods, grand crosses and chart shape. It is not a population percentile, and a high score is not a better chart. Without a birth time the houses are left out of it.

Score your own chart →

Virgo Sun

Sees the typo from across the room.

James A. Van Allen's Sun was in Virgo for the whole of September 7, 1914, so no birth time is needed to settle it.

What Virgo means →

Wood Tiger

Brave, bright, burns fast.

James A. Van Allen was born on September 7, 1914, which falls in a Wood Tiger year of the Chinese calendar.

What the Tiger means →

Life Path 22

Big blueprint, real hands.

James A. Van Allen's birth date, September 7, 1914, reduces to Life Path 22 under the numerology method AsterNym uses.

What Life Path 22 means →

What stands out in James’s chart

James’s birth chart

Reference chart · birth time unknown

Positions are checked across the whole date. The Moon ranges from 13° to 25° Aries depending on the hour.

AriesTaurusGeminiCancerLeoVirgoLibraScorpioSagittariusCapricornAquariusPisces123456789101112Venus grinds against Neptune · Square, 0.7° orbVenus flows with Saturn · Trine, 0.8° orbSaturn fuses with Pluto · Conjunction, 1° orbMars flows with Jupiter · Trine, 1.5° orbVenus flows with Pluto · Trine, 1.8° orbMoon faces off with Mars · Opposition, 3.9° orbJupiter fuses with Uranus · Conjunction, 5.7° orbSun fuses with Mercury · Conjunction, 7.2° orbSun in Virgo · 14°15′☉14°Moon in Aries · 19°29′☽19°Mercury in Virgo · 21°26′☿21°Venus in Scorpio · 0°18′♀0°Mars in Libra · 15°33′♂15°Jupiter in Aquarius · 14°03′ · retrograde♃℞14°Saturn in Cancer · 1°03′♄1°Uranus in Aquarius · 8°20′ · retrograde♅℞8°Neptune in Cancer · 29°36′♆29°Pluto in Cancer · 2°06′♇2°

No birth time, so the houses are a solar chart: the Sun’s sign counts as house 1.

Tap a planet, a sign, a house, an aspect line or an element to see what it means and what sits in it.
Conjunction 0°
Sextile 60°
Square 90°
Trine 120°
Opposition 180°

Placements

Tap one to light it on the wheel.

The working: aspects, Chiron and the asteroids, dominant planets and configurationsshow

Aspects across every possible birth time

  • stableVenussquareNeptune0.2° to 1.2° orb

    James’s affections grind against their imagination. The friction is lifelong. Worked with, it builds real strength.

  • stableVenustrineSaturn0.3° to 1.2° orb

    James’s affections flow straight into their discipline. Effortless, which is exactly why it gets taken for granted.

  • stableSaturnconjunctionPluto1.0° to 1.1° orb

    James’s discipline and depths act as one. Each makes the other louder.

  • stableMarstrineJupiter1.1° to 1.9° orb

  • stableVenustrinePluto1.3° to 2.3° orb

  • stableJupiterconjunctionUranus5.7° orb

  • stableSunconjunctionMercury6.8° to 7.6° orb

  • possibleMoonoppositionMarsorb from 0.1° to 9.5° depending on birth time

  • possibleMoonsextileJupiterorb from 0.1° to 11.4° depending on birth time

  • possibleMoonsquareNeptuneorb from 4.2° to 16.1° depending on birth time

  • possibleMoonoppositionVenusorb from 5.4° to 16.3° depending on birth time

  • possibleMarstrineUranusorb from 6.9° to 7.6° depending on birth time

Chart signature

Elements

  • Fire1 of 10
  • Earth2 of 10
  • Air3 of 10
  • Water4 of 10

Modalities

  • Cardinal5 of 10
  • Fixed3 of 10
  • Mutable2 of 10

Counted across the ten planets by sign: Water leads this chart.

James’s Chiron, Ceres, Eros, Hygiea and Lilith

What astrologers make of these five, at noon values.

  • ⚷ Chiron ℞Pisces 16°43′ (moves 0.05° over the day)

    centaur (2060) · the wound and what is learnt from it

  • ⚳ Ceres ℞Aquarius 20°02′ (moves 0.17° over the day)

    dwarf planet (1) · how a person nurtures and wants to be nurtured

  • ♡ Eros ℞Aries 10°11′ (moves 0.24° over the day)

    near-Earth asteroid (433) · what draws them and how they desire

  • ⚕ HygieaCancer 18°59′ (moves 0.27° over the day)

    main-belt asteroid (10) · health, routine and what keeps them well

  • ⚸ Black Moon LilithTaurus 1°49′ (moves 0.11° over the day)

    mean lunar apogee · the part that refuses to be tamed

Aspects to the asteroids and Lilith

  • Black Moon Lilith sextile Pluto 0.3°
  • Black Moon Lilith sextile Saturn 0.8°
  • Black Moon Lilith opposition Venus 1.5°
  • Eros sextile Uranus 1.9°
  • Black Moon Lilith square Neptune 2.2°
  • Hygiea sextile Mercury 2.4°
  • Chiron opposition Sun 2.5°

James’s dominant planets

  1. 1. ☿ Mercury7 pts

    rules the Sun sign, Virgo; in its own sign, Virgo; disposes Sun; 1 major aspect

  2. 2. ♀ Venus4 pts

    disposes Mars; 3 major aspects

  3. 3. ♅ Uranus4 pts

    in its own sign, Aquarius; disposes Jupiter; 1 major aspect

Configurations in James’s chart

No stellium, grand trine, T-square, grand cross, yod or kite — the common case.

Minor aspects

semi-sextile, semi-square, quintile, sesquiquadrate, biquintile, quincunx.

  • Sun biquintile Uranus 0.1°
  • Sun quintile Pluto 0.1°
  • Sun quincunx Jupiter 0.2°
  • Uranus biquintile Pluto 0.2°
  • Sun semi-square Neptune 0.3°
  • Sun semi-square Venus 1.1°
  • Sun quintile Saturn 1.2°
  • Sun semi-sextile Mars 1.3°
  • Saturn biquintile Uranus 1.3°
  • Mercury biquintile Jupiter 1.4°
  • Saturn semi-sextile Neptune 1.5°
  • Mercury sesquiquadrate Uranus 1.9°

More people like James

Other astronomers

Born in United States

More charts like James’s

Fellow Virgo suns

All about Virgo →

Born in Tiger years

Year of the Tiger →

Also born on September 7

Fellow Yang Fire day masters

What a Day Master is →

Other Virgo Tiger charts

Other Radiant Explorers

The Radiant Explorer explained →

Famous people with Life Path 22

Life Path numbers explained →

From the journal: The modern vs traditional rulers debate · 2027, Year of the Goat: what it means for every sign

James’s cards

Computed from September 7, 1914. Tap to flip.

Birth tarot card

Death

AsterNym identity card

The Radiant Explorer

Western zodiac

Virgo

Chinese zodiac

Tiger 寅

Life Path

22 · Master Builder

☿ Ruled by Mercury

Quicksilver Hg

The working: BaZi pillarsshow

BaZi pillars

Day Master: yang Fire.

Year

甲

yang Wood

寅

Tiger

Wood

roots & early life

Month

壬

yang Water

申

Monkey

Metal

work & drive

Day

day master

丙

yang Fire

申

Monkey

Metal

you & partnership

Where this comes from, and how it is worked out

James’s birth date and birthplace come from Wikidata Q271963 (CC0), as do the occupations, works and awards above. With no documented birth time this chart is rated X on the Rodden scale, the astrological convention for how well evidenced a birth time is. The banner above lists what that leaves out. Entries are matched to Wikidata by entity id rather than by name, kept at day precision, and dropped where sources disagree on the date.

Tropical zodiac, whole-sign houses, modern rulers. Aspects on the western_v1 orb policy; minor ones at 1.5° to 2.5°, skipped where a major already holds. Minor bodies from JPL Horizons heliocentric vectors, Lilith as mean apogee. Dominance is an AsterNym score — rulerships, dispositors, aspect count — so other methods can name a different leader.

Portrait by Unknown, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The same James A. Van Allen at Wikipedia.

Roster last reviewed September 10, 2026. The full method: how it works.

Traditional interpretations, not facts or predictions, and not endorsed by James A. Van Allen.

Quick answers about James A. Van Allen’s chart

What zodiac sign was James A. Van Allen?
James A. Van Allen was a Virgo: born September 7, 1914, which puts the Sun in Virgo for the whole of that day.
What was James A. Van Allen's Chinese zodiac animal?
The Tiger, with the Wood element, from the Chinese lunar year of the September 7, 1914 birth.
What was James A. Van Allen's Life Path number?
Life Path 22, calculated in numerology.
What was James A. Van Allen's Chiron sign?
Chiron in Pisces at 16°. Position from JPL Horizons.
Where was James A. Van Allen's Black Moon Lilith?
Mean Black Moon Lilith in Taurus at 1°. This is the mean lunar apogee; the osculating Lilith some tables use can sit up to 30° away.
What was James A. Van Allen's dominant planet?
Mercury, on AsterNym's dominance score (7 points: rules the Sun sign, Virgo; in its own sign, Virgo; disposes Sun; 1 major aspect). Venus is second and Uranus third. Other sites weight rulerships and aspects differently and can name a different leader.

More charts to explore