What ⚹ means
It marks a 60-degree relationship between two planets. In astrology, that angle is called a sextile; placed between planet names, ⚹ labels their relationship. Astrologers read it as a cooperative opening, though using the opportunity still takes effort. It is one of the major aspects—the angle-based relationships in a chart—alongside conjunction, opposition, square, and trine.
The astrological term predates the digital character: sextile is recorded in astrology from the late 14th century, for planets 60 degrees apart.
Why does ⚹ resemble a phone star key?
The resemblance is about shape. A phone star key is an input control, while ⚹ in an astrology chart marks a relationship between planets.
A 1973 telephone patent described the key’s shape as “sextile or asterisk.”
Specialist notation in astrology; the phone-key reference describes a similar shape, not the same chart meaning.
In a chart, read ⚹ as an aspect between planets, not a decorative star.
Don't confuse it with
2Questions people ask
1Why does ⚹ show as a box on some devices?
Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.
How to type ⚹
⚹\26B9Codes and encoding1 code points
A visible symbol can contain several code points. JS .length counts UTF-16 units; UTF-8 counts bytes.