Exact birth hour?

So I'm doing a natal chart for someone and I was wondering about one thing. I've heard that if you're not certain about the exact hour of birth, you should set it to 12.00 (PM, was it?). But this someone isn't sure of the time of birth only that it might be somewhere around 05.00. So would it be more correct if I'd set it to 12.00 or 05.00 AM?

Either way ET, the houses have to be ignored in your chart analyses.....as these are valid only if you have an accurate birthtime.

The Moon moves around 1 degree every two hours.......So, if this person was indeed born around 5.00 am, a chart based upon that time would give an accurate Moon location......whereas a Noon/12pm chart would give a Moon position that was 3+ degrees later.....Thus, a 5.00am chart is "better" than a Noon Chart if the person is sure about the approximate birthtime.

Whichever chart you use though, the important thing is to not use any information that cannot be relied upon....(Houses in both charts, and the Moon degree in the Noon Chart)

[Note : The Natural Zodiac always exerts a subtle influence on every individual.......So, valid house information sometimes can be gleaned from this]

EJ

Ok thanks for clarifying that. I learned something

EJ53 is right.

There are enough charts you will want to read with no good birth times that it is well worth your while to learn to read a chart without them. One way to do this is by learning which planets and signs rule which areas of life covered by the houses in a full-blown chart. Venus, for example, rules money, so see what Venus is doing if you don't have a 2nd house to look at. Libra can be used to signify long-term relationships such as marriage.

In using Astrodienst free charts, I would input the birth time as "unknown." This will automatically give you a noon default time, but no houses. Which is good, because these could be so far off as to be counter-productive. Then I know that the moon could move back or forth 6 degrees either way.

Happy astrologizing!