Sunrise & Sunset Calculator

Sunrise and sunset times depend entirely on your location and the date. Select your city and today's date above for exact local times. As a rough guide: in mid-latitudes (35–55°N), sunrise in summer can be as early as 4:30 AM and as late as 8:00 AM in winter. Sunset ranges from about 4:15 PM in winter to 9:00 PM in summer. Near the equator, sunrise and sunset are remarkably stable year-round, around 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM. Near the Arctic Circle, the sun can be above the horizon for 24 hours in summer (midnight sun) and completely absent in winter (polar night).

Sunrise is the moment the upper edge of the Sun's disk appears at the horizon. Civil twilight begins when the Sun is 6 degrees below the horizon — the sky is bright enough for most outdoor activities without artificial light. Civil twilight ends at sunrise (morning) or begins at sunset (evening). Nautical twilight occurs when the Sun is 6–12 degrees below the horizon; the horizon is still visible at sea, used by sailors for celestial navigation. Astronomical twilight occurs when the Sun is 12–18 degrees below the horizon; it is dark enough for most astronomical observations. Astronomical night begins when the Sun is more than 18 degrees below the horizon.

Golden hour is the period shortly after sunrise and before sunset when sunlight has a warm, soft, golden quality. The Sun is near the horizon, so light travels through more atmosphere, scattering blue wavelengths and leaving warm orange and red tones. Shadows are long and soft because the light source is low. In photography, golden hour light is flattering for portraits, dramatic for landscapes, and makes colors pop. The duration of golden hour varies: it can last over an hour near the equator, but at high latitudes in summer it can extend for hours as the Sun never gets high in the sky. The blue hour follows: the period just before sunrise and just after sunset with a diffuse, blue-toned light.

The change in sunrise/sunset times is caused by the Earth's axial tilt (23.5 degrees) and its elliptical orbit around the Sun. In summer (in the Northern Hemisphere), the North Pole is tilted toward the Sun, giving northern locations longer days. In winter, the tilt is away from the Sun, giving shorter days. At the equinoxes (March 20 and September 23), day and night are approximately equal everywhere. At the solstices (June 21 and December 21), the difference is at its maximum. Near the Arctic Circle (66.5°N), this leads to the midnight sun in summer and polar night in winter. The rate of change is fastest near the equinoxes and slowest near the solstices.

Solar noon is when the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky — the midpoint between sunrise and sunset. At solar noon, shadows are shortest and sunlight is most intense. Solar noon is not the same as 12:00 PM clock time because of two factors: (1) your position within your timezone (the Sun crosses the 75th meridian at exactly 12:00 PM Eastern, but New York at 74°W is close while locations far from the central meridian differ by up to 30 minutes), and (2) the equation of time (a seasonal variation of up to 16 minutes due to Earth's elliptical orbit and axial tilt). Solar noon is also the exact midpoint between civil twilight in the morning and evening.

The midnight sun occurs above the Arctic Circle (66.5°N) and Antarctic Circle (66.5°S) when the Earth's axial tilt keeps the Sun above the horizon continuously for 24 hours. In Tromsø, Norway (69.6°N), the midnight sun lasts from May 20 to July 22 each year. At the North Pole, the sun is above the horizon continuously from the March equinox to the September equinox (6 months of sunlight). Polar night is the opposite: continuous darkness. In Tromsø, polar night lasts from November 27 to January 15. The further from the circles, the shorter these phenomena last. Fairbanks, Alaska (64.8°N) gets about 22.5 hours of daylight at the summer solstice but does not experience true midnight sun.

Daylight Saving Time (DST) is the practice of moving the clock forward one hour in spring and back in fall. The US currently starts DST on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. DST shifts sunrise and sunset times by one hour on the clock: in summer, sunrise might be at 5:40 AM standard time but 6:40 AM DST. This is why summer sunrises feel "late." The actual astronomical sunrise has not changed — only the clock has. Arizona (except the Navajo Nation), Hawaii, and US territories do not observe DST. The European Union voted to abolish the biannual clock change; implementation is ongoing.

Sunrise and sunset times are calculated using the Sun's position in the sky, which depends on: (1) the date (determines Earth's position in its orbit and thus the Sun's declination), (2) latitude (how far north or south you are), and (3) longitude (your east-west position affects the clock time). The calculation uses the NOAA Solar Calculator algorithm, which computes the Julian date, solar mean anomaly, equation of center, solar declination, solar hour angle, and finally the hour angle at sunrise/sunset (when the Sun is 0.833 degrees below the horizon, accounting for atmospheric refraction and the Sun's diameter). This is the same algorithm used by this calculator.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day is the summer solstice, around June 21. In the Southern Hemisphere it is the opposite: December 21. At the summer solstice, the North Pole is maximally tilted toward the Sun. The exact length of the longest day varies by latitude: at the equator, every day is approximately 12 hours. At latitude 40°N (e.g., New York), the longest day is about 15 hours. At 52°N (e.g., London), about 16.5 hours. At 60°N (e.g., Oslo), about 18.5 hours. At 66.5°N (Arctic Circle), the sun never fully sets at the solstice. The "day" is gradually getting longer or shorter at 1–4 minutes per day, with the fastest change occurring near the equinoxes.

How quickly it gets dark after sunset depends on latitude and the time of year. At the equator, it gets dark within about 25 minutes after sunset year-round because the Sun sets nearly vertically. At mid-latitudes (40-55°N or S), civil twilight (enough light for outdoor activities) ends about 30–40 minutes after sunset. Full darkness (astronomical twilight end) comes 60–90 minutes after sunset in summer, but can be 90–120 minutes in midsummer at higher latitudes. In northern Europe in June, it may never get fully astronomically dark. In winter at mid-latitudes, darkness comes relatively quickly (45–60 minutes) after sunset. This calculator shows the exact twilight end times for your location.