Carrington rotations
Convert a date to its Carrington rotation number and back, and browse rotation start and end times.
CR 2578
| Start | April 20, 2046 at 10:20 AM UTC |
|---|---|
| End | May 17, 2046 at 04:01 PM UTC |
| Length (days) | 27.24 |
Neighbouring rotations
| CR | Start | End | Length (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2573 | December 4, 2045 at 07:50 PM UTC | January 1, 2046 at 03:40 AM UTC | 27.33 |
| 2574 | January 1, 2046 at 03:40 AM UTC | January 28, 2046 at 11:49 AM UTC | 27.34 |
| 2575 | January 28, 2046 at 11:49 AM UTC | February 24, 2046 at 07:57 PM UTC | 27.34 |
| 2576 | February 24, 2046 at 07:57 PM UTC | March 24, 2046 at 03:36 AM UTC | 27.32 |
| 2577 | March 24, 2046 at 03:36 AM UTC | April 20, 2046 at 10:20 AM UTC | 27.28 |
| 2578 | April 20, 2046 at 10:20 AM UTC | May 17, 2046 at 04:01 PM UTC | 27.24 |
| 2579 | May 17, 2046 at 04:01 PM UTC | June 13, 2046 at 08:56 PM UTC | 27.21 |
| 2580 | June 13, 2046 at 08:56 PM UTC | July 11, 2046 at 01:40 AM UTC | 27.20 |
| 2581 | July 11, 2046 at 01:40 AM UTC | August 7, 2046 at 06:47 AM UTC | 27.21 |
| 2582 | August 7, 2046 at 06:47 AM UTC | September 3, 2046 at 12:35 PM UTC | 27.24 |
| 2583 | September 3, 2046 at 12:35 PM UTC | September 30, 2046 at 07:02 PM UTC | 27.27 |
About this tool
A Carrington rotation is the time the Sun takes to turn once on its axis as seen from the Earth: 27.2753 days on average. The count was defined by the English astronomer Richard Carrington, who studied sunspots in the 1850s; rotation 1 began on 9 November 1853, and the numbering has run without interruption since.
Explorer computes the start of each rotation with the formula given by Jean Meeus in Astronomical Algorithms (chapter 29), implemented in its own astronomy library and checked against published dates. A rotation begins when the Carrington longitude L₀ of the central meridian passes through 0°; because the Earth moves along its orbit, the synodic period varies slightly around the mean, hence lengths of 27.2 to 27.3 days.
Observers use the rotation number as a calendar for the Sun: an active region that crosses the disc reappears about one rotation later, and the community activity heatmap shows one row per rotation so that returning regions line up. Enter a date to find its rotation, or a number to get the UTC start and end dates and the neighbouring rotations.