Western astrology works with the seven visible planets plus three outer planets discovered more recently. Vedic astrology instead centres on nine bodies — the Navagraha — including two points that aren't physical planets at all.
The seven visible bodies
Surya (Sun) governs identity, authority and vitality. Chandra (Moon) governs the mind, emotions and instinctive reactions. Mangal (Mars) governs energy, courage and conflict. Budh (Mercury) governs communication, intellect and commerce. Guru (Jupiter) governs wisdom, growth and good fortune. Shukra (Venus) governs love, beauty and material comfort. Shani (Saturn) governs discipline, delay and long-term consequence.
Rahu and Ketu — the shadow planets
Rahu and Ketu aren't physical bodies; they're the two points where the moon's orbit crosses the sun's apparent path — the lunar nodes. Rahu is associated with worldly desire, ambition and obsession, while Ketu is associated with detachment, spirituality and unfinished karmic threads. Together they're read as an axis: what you're pulled toward (Rahu) and what you're meant to release (Ketu).
Why nine matters for predictions
A Vedic astrologer reads your chart by looking at where each of these nine bodies sat at your birth, which house they occupy, and how they aspect one another. This is also why Vedic astrology relies heavily on dasha systems — planetary "periods" that unfold over a person's lifetime — since the influence of each graha is understood to peak during its own ruling period rather than acting uniformly across your whole life.
None of the nine are inherently "good" or "bad" — each has strengths and challenges depending on its placement, and a large part of what an astrologer does is read the balance between them rather than pointing at a single planet in isolation.