Pick a city or enter a latitude and longitude, choose a date, and get the sun’s timetable for that day. Times are shown in the place’s own time zone, daylight saving included.
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The calculator uses the NOAA solar position equations: from the date it works out where the Earth is in its orbit, the sun’s declination (how far north or south it sits) and the “equation of time” (how far the sun runs ahead of or behind the clock). From your latitude it finds the hour angle at which the sun’s centre is 0.833° below the horizon: that’s sunrise and sunset, allowing for the sun’s width and for the atmosphere bending its light.
Civil twilight (sun up to 6° below the horizon) is when there’s enough light to be outside without lights, often called first and last light. Nautical twilight (to 12° below) is when the horizon at sea becomes hard to see. Golden hour here is when the sun is within 6° above the horizon: soft, warm light that photographers love.
Solar noon is when the sun is highest, which is rarely 12:00 on the clock because of time zones, daylight saving and the equation of time. Near the poles the sun may not set at all in summer (midnight sun) or rise in winter (polar night); the calculator says so.
Because solar noon drifts through the year (the equation of time). In the southern hemisphere the earliest sunrise comes in early December and the latest sunset in early January, either side of the 21–22 December solstice; in the north it’s mid-June and late June.
The time just after sunrise and just before sunset when the sun is low (within about 6° of the horizon). The light is warm, soft and directional, which is why photographers favour it. Its length depends on latitude and season: shorter near the equator, longer at high latitudes.
Sunset is when the top edge of the sun disappears below the horizon. Civil dusk comes later, when the sun is 6° below; until then it’s usually still light enough to see without lights.
Yes. Times are shown in the chosen time zone using your device’s time-zone rules, so daylight saving is applied automatically for the date you pick.
Apps can use different refraction values, elevations, or round to the minute differently. Differences of a minute or so are normal; a hilly horizon can make the real sunrise several minutes later.
