Sunrise & Sunset

The sunrise and sunset calculator estimates when the sun rises and sets for a chosen city and date from latitude, longitude, and a standard geometric solar model. Civil times help plan hikes, photography, school outdoor periods, and evening events. Results are practical estimates for everyday planning — not certified navigation, aviation, or legal prayer authorities.

What sunrise and sunset mean on this page

Sunrise and sunset here use a geometric solar elevation near −0.833°, the common approximation that includes atmospheric refraction for a flat horizon. Local terrain, mountains, and tall buildings can shift the visible sun by several minutes. For twilight windows before sunrise or after sunset, open dawn and dusk. For total daylight length between rise and set, try day length.

Polar day and polar night near the Arctic and Antarctic circles can make rise or set undefined on some dates. City presets on this tool are mid-latitude oriented; treat polar edge cases with specialized almanacs rather than forcing a clock label.

How to use the calculator

Choose a city preset or enter equivalent latitude and longitude, pick a date, and calculate. Read sunrise and sunset in local civil time as the browser presents them for that location. Compare two dates a month apart to see seasonal drift in evening light — a quick check that beats memorizing a single sunset time all year.

Build a small reference list of sun times for places you visit often: home, office, a favorite trailhead. Comparing those entries across seasons trains the eye faster than reading static tables alone. Share the date and city in group chat when coordinating outdoor meetups so everyone works from the same anchor.

Accuracy, time zones, and daylight saving

Estimates depend on coordinates and the time zone rules the browser applies for the selected date. Daylight saving transitions can change clock labels overnight even when solar geometry changes smoothly. For transition dates themselves, see daylight saving time before scheduling early-morning events.

Do not use these estimates for celestial navigation, aviation dispatch, or disputes that require a certified authority. Everyday hiking, photography, and recess scheduling are the intended lane. If a city is missing from presets, pick a nearby city at similar latitude and note the approximation in your trip plan.

Photography and golden hour

Golden hour length varies with latitude and season; arriving one hour before sunset is only a starting heuristic. Recalculate on travel days rather than reusing home-city times. In valleys and canyons, visible sunset can precede geometric sunset — build margin into hike turnaround times and location scouting schedules.

Carry a backup light even when the calculator shows a comfortable window. Weather, clouds, and trail delays erase optimistic math. For moonrise planning on the same evening, pair results with moon phase today when lunar light matters to the shoot.

Outdoor groups and seasonal context

When leading groups, announce both clock time and a landmark cue — for example, leave at sunrise plus thirty minutes — so people without phones can still follow. Pair sun times with seasons when explaining why winter sunsets arrive so early; equinox and solstice context makes daily change feel less arbitrary to students and new hikers.

Coaches scheduling outdoor practice in late autumn often recalculate sunset weekly as days shorten. When sunset arrives before the usual end time, move drills earlier or switch to a field with lighting. Cross-check the calendar date on monthly calendars if the session spans a holiday weekend listed under 2026 holidays.

Worked example

A photographer wants golden-hour timing for a weekend shoot. Enter the city and date, note sunset, and plan to arrive roughly an hour before. If the shoot spans multiple days, run the calculator for each date rather than assuming identical sun times. A coach planning a November tournament uses the same page to confirm whether daylight lasts through the final whistle.

Comparing the same city on a date one month later shows how quickly evenings change in spring and autumn. Near the solstices, day-to-day change slows; near the equinoxes, it speeds up. That monthly check is often more useful than a single annual bookmark.

Coastal horizons and elevated terrain

Flat-horizon math assumes the sea level circle around your coordinates. Cliffs, ridgelines, and urban canyon walls block the sun earlier than the geometric model predicts. East-facing slopes see sunrise later; west-facing ridges lose the disk sooner than a valley floor at the same latitude. When scouting a location for the first time, arrive one full day early and note actual first light against the calculator output so future trips inherit a local correction factor.

Coastal planners sometimes care about the sun clearing a headland rather than the open ocean horizon. No generic preset captures every headland; treat preset output as a baseline and adjust from field notes. Pair elevation-sensitive trips with conservative turnaround rules rather than pushing the last minute of legal daylight.

Schools, parks, and municipal schedules

Recess and after-school programs often cite civil sunset informally even when policy documents do not. Recalculating weekly in autumn prevents surprise early dismissals when custodial staff lock gates at dusk. Park departments posting field closure times should publish both the clock cutoff and the calendar date so parents interpret the rule correctly across daylight saving weekends.

Municipal noise ordinances and outdoor amplified sound permits sometimes reference sunset plus a fixed buffer. Enter the city and event date here, add the buffer in your head or on the date calculator, and cite the named civil time in the permit application rather than a vague evening label.

Travel across latitudes

Business travelers who exercise at sunrise should recalculate for each trip city rather than keeping home habits. A 6:30 a.m. jog that feels bright in Miami may still be dark in Seattle on the same calendar week. Conference agendas that list outdoor receptions should confirm sunset for the venue city on the event date, not the organizer’s home timezone.

Festival and fair organizers publishing gate times in local civil time should re-run sun times when the event moves between early and late season dates. A September fair closing at sunset differs by tens of minutes from an October weekend at the same venue. Document the city preset used so next year’s committee does not inherit unexplained drift.

Related tools

Continue with dawn/dusk, day length, and seasons for related sky timing. Browse date tools and time tools for siblings. Year context: yearly 2026 calendar.