CODDY Tool

Equinox & Solstice Calculator

The dates and UTC times of all four equinoxes and solstices for any year.

Calculates the March and September equinoxes and the June and December solstices for any year from 1000 to 3000, with the days between each and a countdown to whichever comes next.

Everything you enter stays in this browser tab. Nothing is sent to our servers, logged or stored.

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About Equinox & Solstice Calculator

Equinoxes and solstices mark the four points in Earth's orbit where its 23.4° axial tilt relative to the Sun reaches a notable value: at the solstices, one hemisphere is tilted as far toward or away from the Sun as it gets all year (the longest and shortest days); at the equinoxes, neither hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun, and day and night are close to equal length everywhere on Earth.

Which hemisphere gets summer and which gets winter at a given solstice is just a matter of which one happens to be tilted toward the Sun at that point in the orbit — which is why the seasons are opposite in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and why 'summer solstice' on its own is genuinely ambiguous without saying which hemisphere you mean.

The calculation here uses Meeus's published mean-date formulas rather than the full periodic-term version, which trades a small amount of precision (see the accuracy note below) for a closed-form calculation that runs instantly for any year without needing to load additional orbital data.

How to find an equinox or solstice date

  1. Enter a year

    Any year from 1000 to 3000.

  2. Read all four dates

    With the hemisphere each one marks the start of.

  3. Check what's next

    The nearest upcoming one is called out separately.

Frequently asked questions

Why do equinox and solstice dates shift by a day from year to year?

Because a calendar year (365 or 366 days) doesn't divide evenly into Earth's actual orbital period, so the precise moment drifts across nearby calendar dates over a few years before the leap-year cycle pulls it back — this is completely normal and not a sign anything unusual is happening astronomically.

Is day length exactly equal on an equinox?

Very close, but not exactly — atmospheric refraction bends sunlight slightly over the horizon (the same effect the Sunrise & Sunset Calculator accounts for), and the Sun has to fully cross the horizon rather than just its centre, both of which add a few extra minutes of daylight beyond a mathematically perfect 12/12 split.

How accurate are these dates?

Within roughly a day, using Meeus's mean-date approximation rather than his full method's ~24 additional periodic correction terms (worth up to about a day of further precision). For knowing which day the season changes, that's sufficient; for the exact minute, treat it as indicative.

Do equinoxes and solstices happen at the same moment worldwide?

Yes — unlike sunrise or local noon, an equinox or solstice is a single moment in Earth's orbit, the same instant everywhere. What differs by location is only the local calendar date and time that moment falls on, since time zones convert that one instant differently.

Equinox & Solstice Calculator is free to use with no account, no watermark and no usage limits. Last updated 7 September 2026.