Carrington rotations
Convert a date to its Carrington rotation number and back, and browse rotation start and end times.
CR 8201
| Start | March 18, 2466 at 12:51 AM UTC |
|---|---|
| End | April 14, 2466 at 08:04 AM UTC |
| Length (days) | 27.30 |
Neighbouring rotations
| CR | Start | End | Length (days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8196 | November 1, 2465 at 09:43 AM UTC | November 28, 2465 at 05:01 PM UTC | 27.30 |
| 8197 | November 28, 2465 at 05:01 PM UTC | December 26, 2465 at 12:41 AM UTC | 27.32 |
| 8198 | December 26, 2465 at 12:41 AM UTC | January 22, 2466 at 08:43 AM UTC | 27.33 |
| 8199 | January 22, 2466 at 08:43 AM UTC | February 18, 2466 at 04:54 PM UTC | 27.34 |
| 8200 | February 18, 2466 at 04:54 PM UTC | March 18, 2466 at 12:51 AM UTC | 27.33 |
| 8201 | March 18, 2466 at 12:51 AM UTC | April 14, 2466 at 08:04 AM UTC | 27.30 |
| 8202 | April 14, 2466 at 08:04 AM UTC | May 11, 2466 at 02:15 PM UTC | 27.26 |
| 8203 | May 11, 2466 at 02:15 PM UTC | June 7, 2466 at 07:28 PM UTC | 27.22 |
| 8204 | June 7, 2466 at 07:28 PM UTC | July 5, 2466 at 12:13 AM UTC | 27.20 |
| 8205 | July 5, 2466 at 12:13 AM UTC | August 1, 2466 at 05:06 AM UTC | 27.20 |
| 8206 | August 1, 2466 at 05:06 AM UTC | August 28, 2466 at 10:33 AM UTC | 27.23 |
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.