Sunrise, Sunset & Golden Hour
Daylight, twilight and golden hour for any place and date.
Sunrise, sunset, solar noon, day length, the three twilights and both golden hours, for any place and date. Times are calculated with the NOAA solar position method (Jean Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms): sunrise and sunset use a zenith of 90.833 degrees, which allows for the sun's radius and atmospheric refraction. Times are shown in the UTC offset you pick, so check it against the place, not just your own device.
Honest limits. Results are calculated, not observed: NOAA states its sunrise and sunset figures are theoretically accurate within a minute between 72 degrees south and 72 degrees north, and worse outside that range, and real observed times vary with atmospheric conditions, altitude and the local horizon. A hill to the east delays your sunrise; this tool assumes a flat horizon at sea level. Daylight saving is not applied automatically: the London and New York presets show the standard offset, and you must add one hour yourself in their summer months. Golden hour here means the first hour after sunrise and the last hour before sunset, the photography convention; it is not an astronomical term with a fixed definition, and some photographers define it by sun elevation instead.
Sunrise is not when the sun crosses the horizon
Sunrise is defined as the moment the sun's upper edge appears over a flat horizon, which happens while the sun's centre is still 0.833 degrees below the horizon: half a degree for the sun's own radius, plus about a third of a degree for atmospheric refraction bending the light around the earth's curve. That is why the zenith angle used is 90.833 degrees, not 90. The same figure, mirrored, defines sunset. Everything else on the page follows the same idea with a different angle: civil twilight ends when the centre is 6 degrees below the horizon, nautical at 12 degrees, astronomical at 18 degrees. Those three lines are the difference between "still light enough to work outside", "the horizon is still visible at sea" and "the sky is fully dark for astronomy".
Solar noon is the other anchor: the moment the sun is highest, which is rarely 12:00 on the clock. It shifts with your longitude inside your time zone and with the equation of time, the seasonal wobble caused by the earth's tilted axis and elliptical orbit, by up to about 16 minutes either way across the year. Day length is simply sunset minus sunrise, and it changes fastest near the equinoxes, by several minutes a day at mid-latitudes, and slowest near the solstices, which is why late June days feel like they stop changing.
The three twilights, in plain terms
Civil twilight, sun 0 to 6 degrees below the horizon: bright enough to read and work outside without lights. Nautical twilight, 6 to 12 degrees: the horizon is still visible at sea, so sailors could take star sights. Astronomical twilight, 12 to 18 degrees: the sky darkens enough for faint stars, and past 18 degrees it is fully night. In summer at high latitudes, the sun may never get 18 degrees down, so true night never arrives.
Why photographers chase the golden hour
When the sun is low, its light travels through more atmosphere, which scatters the blue away and leaves warm light, and the long shadows give a scene depth that midday light flattens. The hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset are the convention, but the light is best in the first and last 20 minutes, when the sun is closest to the horizon, so plan to be in place before the hour starts, not at its middle.
Frequently Asked Questions
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