Carrington rotations
Convert a date to its Carrington rotation number and back, and browse rotation start and end times.
CR 3542
| Start | April 16, 2118 at 06:09 PM UTC |
|---|---|
| End | May 14, 2118 at 12:02 AM UTC |
| Length (days) | 27.24 |
Neighbouring rotations
| CR | Start | End | Length (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3537 | December 1, 2117 at 03:23 AM UTC | December 28, 2117 at 11:10 AM UTC | 27.32 |
| 3538 | December 28, 2117 at 11:10 AM UTC | January 24, 2118 at 07:15 PM UTC | 27.34 |
| 3539 | January 24, 2118 at 07:15 PM UTC | February 21, 2118 at 03:26 AM UTC | 27.34 |
| 3540 | February 21, 2118 at 03:26 AM UTC | March 20, 2118 at 11:13 AM UTC | 27.32 |
| 3541 | March 20, 2118 at 11:13 AM UTC | April 16, 2118 at 06:09 PM UTC | 27.29 |
| 3542 | April 16, 2118 at 06:09 PM UTC | May 14, 2118 at 12:02 AM UTC | 27.24 |
| 3543 | May 14, 2118 at 12:02 AM UTC | June 10, 2118 at 05:03 AM UTC | 27.21 |
| 3544 | June 10, 2118 at 05:03 AM UTC | July 7, 2118 at 09:47 AM UTC | 27.20 |
| 3545 | July 7, 2118 at 09:47 AM UTC | August 3, 2118 at 02:47 PM UTC | 27.21 |
| 3546 | August 3, 2118 at 02:47 PM UTC | August 30, 2118 at 08:26 PM UTC | 27.24 |
| 3547 | August 30, 2118 at 08:26 PM UTC | September 27, 2118 at 02:46 AM UTC | 27.26 |
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.