Carrington rotations
Convert a date to its Carrington rotation number and back, and browse rotation start and end times.
CR 6578
| Start | January 4, 2345 at 04:12 AM UTC |
|---|---|
| End | January 31, 2345 at 12:19 PM UTC |
| Length (days) | 27.34 |
Neighbouring rotations
| CR | Start | End | Length (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6573 | August 20, 2344 at 05:15 PM UTC | September 16, 2344 at 11:15 PM UTC | 27.25 |
| 6574 | September 16, 2344 at 11:15 PM UTC | October 14, 2344 at 05:52 AM UTC | 27.28 |
| 6575 | October 14, 2344 at 05:52 AM UTC | November 10, 2344 at 12:57 PM UTC | 27.29 |
| 6576 | November 10, 2344 at 12:57 PM UTC | December 7, 2344 at 08:23 PM UTC | 27.31 |
| 6577 | December 7, 2344 at 08:23 PM UTC | January 4, 2345 at 04:12 AM UTC | 27.33 |
| 6578 | January 4, 2345 at 04:12 AM UTC | January 31, 2345 at 12:19 PM UTC | 27.34 |
| 6579 | January 31, 2345 at 12:19 PM UTC | February 27, 2345 at 08:28 PM UTC | 27.34 |
| 6580 | February 27, 2345 at 08:28 PM UTC | March 27, 2345 at 04:12 AM UTC | 27.32 |
| 6581 | March 27, 2345 at 04:12 AM UTC | April 23, 2345 at 11:02 AM UTC | 27.28 |
| 6582 | April 23, 2345 at 11:02 AM UTC | May 20, 2345 at 04:48 PM UTC | 27.24 |
| 6583 | May 20, 2345 at 04:48 PM UTC | June 16, 2345 at 09:46 PM UTC | 27.21 |
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.