Live · updates every second
Today's Julian Date
The number depends on who's asking. Below you'll find both — the day-of-year code stamped on products and used in IT, and the astronomical Julian Date used in science — computed live for right now.
Today's Julian date Live
Tuesday, July 21, 2026 · day 202 of 365
Updating live in your local time zone.
The day-of-year format
Used on food packaging, egg cartons, MREs, mainframes and IT systems. It's simply the year plus the day number from 1 to 365 (366 in a leap year).
2026202 = 2026, day 202
How it works →The astronomical Julian Date
A single continuous count of days since noon on 1 January 4713 BC. Astronomers use it so any two moments can be subtracted directly, with no months or leap years to worry about.
2461242.98 days and counting
The astronomical day count →Converters
Everything runs in your browser — instant, private, no uploads.
Julian Date Converter
Convert any calendar date to a Julian date and back, both formats at once.
Julian Date → Calendar
Decode a 5- or 7-digit code (like 26202) into a normal date.
Calendar → Julian Date
Turn a month, day and year into the day-of-year code.
Astronomical JD Converter
Full Julian Day with time of day, plus MJD and JDN, to the second.
Modified Julian Date
Convert to and from MJD — JD minus 2,400,000.5.
Julian Date Calendars
Printable day-of-year calendars for 2026 and every nearby year.
Printable calendars & tables
Quick lookups you can print or bookmark.
Learn & build
Authoritative reference and copy-paste code.
Frequently asked questions
What is today’s Julian date?
It depends on which "Julian date" you mean. In manufacturing and IT it is the day-of-year format — the last three digits are the day number from 001 to 365 (or 366 in a leap year), usually prefixed by the year, e.g. 2026202 or 26202. In astronomy it is the continuous Julian Date, a running count of days that today sits in the 2,461,000s. The live figures at the top of this page show both for the current moment.
Why does "Julian date" mean two different things?
They come from two unrelated traditions that ended up sharing a name. The astronomical Julian Date was defined in 1583 by Joseph Scaliger as a single continuous day count for astronomers. Separately, business and government systems began calling the ordinal "day of year" a "Julian date" because it was convenient for punch cards and mainframes. Both are in everyday use, so a good tool has to handle each.
How do I read a Julian date on a product or package?
Most packaged-goods codes use the ordinal format. A 5-digit code like 26202 breaks down as the year (26 → 2026) followed by the day of year (202 → July 21). A 4- or 3-digit code is often just the day of year for the current year. Paste the code into the converter to decode it instantly.
Is the Julian date the same as the Julian calendar?
No. The Julian calendar is the old solar calendar introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC and replaced by the Gregorian calendar from 1582. The astronomical Julian Date is a day count that is only named after that calendar because its starting epoch is defined in it. The ordinal "day of year" Julian date has nothing to do with Julius Caesar at all.
What is the Modified Julian Date (MJD)?
The Modified Julian Date is the astronomical Julian Date minus 2,400,000.5. The half-day shift makes the MJD roll over at midnight instead of noon, and the smaller number is easier to store. It is widely used in satellite tracking, geodesy and computing.
Does the Julian date change at midnight or noon?
The ordinal day-of-year Julian date changes at local midnight, like any calendar date. The astronomical Julian Date, by definition, increments by a whole number at 12:00 noon Universal Time — which is why "now" almost always has a .5-ish fractional part rather than a round number.