The orb is the distance from one planet to another this can be in the natal chart or in synastry; the examination of your chart to another. The tighter the orb or distance from one planet to another the greater the impact. Looking at charts can be overwhelming. All this information often conflicting. I’ve taken the synastry (comparison of 2 charts) of my natal chart & that of a male friend We have a lot of outer planet connections, we have karmic ties what else is new 😉 . If you take a look at his Pluto in the 6th it touches all my personal planets. His Pluto squares my sun by 8 degrees & opposes my moon by 9 degrees this is a very wide distance. Some astrologers wouldn’t even consider this because it’s so far. Personally I would go up to 8. Normally Pluto creates obsessive, intense, crazy loves I’ve written tons of posts about Pluto plutonic love & at first glance one may think we are plunging the depths of one another emotionally but upon further inspection we see his Saturn in the 6th is exact square on my sun & opposite my moon with a 1 degree orb. This is tight tight tight. Saturn is like hitting a brick wall in synastry. He puts up walls between us. That’s fine he is taken so if those walls weren’t up my pants might be down ha ha This is not a complaint but rather an observation for learning purposes. Where Pluto is getting to the root of the root of the planet it touches Saturn keeps the planet at bay, at a distance, don’t get to close; the timing may be off, the Saturn person has other responsibilities. My plutonic love & I had very tight orbs with my Pluto on all his planets. Pluto rules destruction, annihilation I use to fall apart on him, collapse on him You can’t do that with tight Saturn in synastry. You have to walk the line, keep it together. Saturn after all is the disciplinarian of the zodiac. The distance between us is further enhanced by his Uranus in the 7th opposite my venus by 0 degrees that is exact, When I try to get close (venus) he will run (Uranus). I have learned to accept relationships as they are. Trying to find the unacceptable acceptable. So when you are looking at synastry first begin with the tightest aspects up to 3 degrees you will notice them immediately & have to deal with them often. Are you hitting a brick wall?(Saturn) Running for your life? (Uranus) Walking in a dream? (Neptune) Or is apart of you dying only to be reborn? (Pluto) or maybe a bit of all 4